#anyway again. go read this fic it is so good

[frannyzooey]

You, and this fic, own me.

This chapter had so much to give!!! I thought it was going to be pure filth and then you hit me with that ending, and I am fucking yearning for these two so goddamn bad (while also being so out of my mind aroused --)

There were so, so many good parts in this one, like the way my mouth fucking dropped open at this:

“Just another reason that maybe you should be inside that church, rather than suckin’ dick in its parking lot."

and THIS:

And so help you god, he’s wearing his tool belt. 

But THIS -- this took the fuckin' cake:

“Then play ‘house’ with me,” you purr, dragging your fingers through his hair. “You can be daddy,” you stroke down his cheek, over his lips, “I can be mommy. And you can try and put a baby in me.”

I was literally levitating at this line. ROCKETING TOWARDS THE MOON!! I was also so in love with how light and free and fun their fucking and teasing was -- the way they just slide into role play like it's no goddamn thing had me grinning ear to ear

Annnnnnnnnd then you hit me with the emotions:

The discordance stirs in your stomach. Right now, you’re actually witnessing the loving-husband-turned-infidel façade weave its way through his marriage. He’s asking her to leave…for you. To free up time to be with you. Under the guise of caring for her. 

You wish it made you feel worse. It just feels…uncomfortable to actually view firsthand.

I literally cannot even imagine what it would feel like to witness the deception happening first hand, and it's something that a lot of cheating fics don't explore? (and I should know 😌)...the way you treated this scene was literal perfection because you brought so much nuance to his emotions. He's being deceptive, but not a manipulative gross creep like this situation is often portrayed. He genuinely hurts....yet does it anyway. I'm obsessed with this scene because you're doing such a good job extending Joel, as a man, the same grace that people often give to the reader in these types of stories. They empathize with the reader feeling bad but doing it anyway, but they often villainize the man, or assume he doesn't feel as bad, ya know? Anyway, just me waxing on about your beautiful brain ❤️

I had all these amazing thoughts about your writing skills....and then they all leaked from my brain when I read this:

You: Yours is the only mouth I want sucking on these titties right now, daddy 👅

You fix your sweater and peer back through your peephole, just to see his face collapse in arousal, grinding the heel of his palm over the crotch of his jeans.

I know the desk fucking scene was so taboo and so filthy, but I felt so, so fucking soft when he said this:

setting the frame down in front of you before yanking your hair at the root and slamming his hand down next to the photo. “You stare at that girl while daddy’s tearin’ apart your slutty little asshole. Remind her that she deserves better than that piece a’shit.”

I live for this line 😭😭

And then this -- this -- was perfection:

“Baby,” he takes your face in his hands again, his expression edging on broken. On your behalf. “What has this fuckin’ monster done to you? My girl from the bar, she knew what she was fuckin’ worth. And she’d let you know it. She came first, and she didn’t apologize for it or accept anything less. What did he do to that fuckin’ girl?”

“Maybe it wasn’t all him."

I could literally envision the look on his face when she said that. What a fucking LINE, Katy and then to have it followed with her speech about how Jack isn't a monster, he's just a man??

The way you are out here giving the depth to this trope that it needs has me SAT and quite frankly, green with envy

This chapter was so fucking good 💀💀💀 ily ❤️

Good Neighbors | (joel miller x f!reader) (18+)

Part Three of Four

✧˖°✧˖°✧˖°✧A fic inspired by Fortnight by Taylor Swift✧˖°✧˖°✧˖°✧

Part One | Part Two

summary: your affair with joel heats up with a week of uninterrupted bliss. warnings/tags: [18+ MINORS DNI] no outbreak!au, age gap (joel is 48, reader is 32), joel x ofc (no sexual content), reader x omc (pitiful sexual content), infidelity, daddy!kink, fingering, unprotected PIV, unprotected anal, oral (m! and f!receiving), degradation!kink, praise!kink, brief roleplaying, unashamed sexualization of the term "kiddo", discussions of SA and domestic abuse, marital discussions regarding mismatched desires on having children, reader struggles with body image as a result of her abusive husband, unhealthy/toxic age gap marriage. this chapter is a much needed break from Jack. immersion notes: reader has hair, wears dresses/makeup, and is considered a "trophy wife" type. additionally, reader is specifically implied to be conventionally thin. apologies to anyone for whom this kills immersion for, but it felt very necessary in the context of the story. word count: ~11.6k a/n: wanted to give the lovebirds a little part that's primarily fun times before shit hits the fan <3 So there will be one more chapter!

Available Only to Registered Users on AO3

[strwberri-milk]

Hi! Love you writing and the way you portray the lnds boys. I've read the rules, and i want to make a request if possible. How do you think they would react if, during sex the reader felt pain but didn't tell them? What would they say when they see it?

Sorry if my English is bad. I am still learning, and reading on Tumblr has helped a lot, so I read good fics like yours 😅

It's okay if you feel uncomfortable with the theme

Anyway, thanks for reading my message ❤️❤️❤️

no worries!! im glad my posts help you learn english but pls do not learn engl from my author notes/rambling posts bc i promise you they are NAWT written properly LMAO0O also this is only mildly suggestive but im gonna stick the entire thing under a cut in case

Zayne hears the sharp intake of breath when he slides in, immediately pulling himself back out to ask you what's wrong. You try to tell him that it's nothing and you'll be fine and he should just keep going but he can't continue knowing he accidentally hurt you. He'll slowly reassure you that it's okay for you two to stop. He wants to find another way to make you feel good without hurting you, hands immediately running over your body again as he slowly works to bring back the pleasure in your body.

Xavier didn't realise you weren't feeling as good as he was until his hand feels how stiff your hips are. He'll remain still, trying to figure out what the problem is as you try to tell him that you're okay. He doesn't quite believe you, deciding that clearly he's hurting you more than making you feel good. He just wants to cuddle you now, mood totally gone for him as he hates the thought of hurting you in any capacity.

Rafayel notices the second you start to feel pain, removing himself from you and asking why you're hurting. He's very insistent so you do end up having to tell him what the problem is, Rafayel mad at himself for not realising that you weren't quite ready for him. He should have spent more time preparing you and makes up for it by kissing you breathless, lips trailing all over you as he works to better prepare you this time.

Sylus doesn't expect the sharp intake of breath, you hoping that it sounds like every other time he slides it in. Of course he does - he sees everything whenever it's about you, body attuned to everything you are. He doesn't say anything though, not wanting to make you feel some sort of way if he draws too much attention to it. You can feel him switching back into foreplay, gently seeking out your consent as he showers you with attention.

[chanranghaeys]

🎥 chemistry read

in which junhui’s casting director gets a little bit too jealous during a chemistry read

pairing: actor!junhui x afab!casting director!reader word count: 2.1k+ genre: hurt, comfort, nsfw rating: r-18. nsfw, mdni! tags: established relationship, JEALOUSY, fluffy ending, reader is mentioned to be smaller than jun, i claim no accuracy over the movie industry processes nsfw warnings: heavy makeout, petting, voyeurism (if you squint?) a/n: mainly inspired by lana condor and noah centineo’s chemistry read for “to all the boys i’ve loved before” and it still lives rent-free in my head because it made me feel so, so many things. also my first nsfw-rated fic oh my. took me a while to make sense of where the story was going but it seemed all roads led to this. credits to @strxwberry-skiess, @diamonddaze01, @haologram, and c for beta reading because this took a village to get out!! thank you bless your souls 🫶

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁ masterlist . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁

✎﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

“Do you believe in the red string of fate?”

“The what?”

“The red string of fate. Have you seriously not heard of it?”

Jun was pulling out all the stops for this one. He had cranked up his charm to the max level evident in the smiles and subtle glances towards her direction. He knew exactly what he was doing.

It was sickening.

You were sitting on the opposite end of the screen in another room. Yes, you chose to go into a separate room today.

“It’s to see the literal on-screen chemistry,” you said. “We can’t have the face-to-face chemistry not translating well on camera.”

Just as well. You’d had enough of them making heart eyes at each other right in front of you anyway.

Today’s schedule was packed with absolutely no time for breaks in between and no time to even sit for a proper meal which you knew you’d only get by the end of the day.

And no time to actually sit down with the actor you were working with—who you were also lucky enough to call your boyfriend.

If you too were an actor, you’d truly believe that Jun was the perfect fit for you. It was something about his carefree presence and easygoing demeanor that turned shy when praises were directed at him no matter how much he deserved it. It was something that made you want to keep rooting for him.

He saw precisely that in you: your unwavering dedication and quiet support, whether in giving him insider tips and tricks to get ahead or letting him run wild with his character at every casting call. It was something he had never seen so strongly in someone during his time as an actor.

“You remind me of my members,” he told you the very first time you had coffee together—as colleagues who were on the verge of becoming something. “They’re my brothers. And I mean that in the best way possible! Not that you’re my brother in the messing around and crazy kind of way,” he quickly added when you raised your eyebrows in question. “I mean in the ‘always being there to stand by your side no matter what’ kind of way.” He sips from his drink nervously. “Don’t ask me to explain please, because I will not stop rambling until I say something even more stupid than I already have.”

You laughed because he’d already rambled more than he usually did. As a casting director, it was your job to match actors to roles that suited them perfectly. But as people, you both could say you did a mighty good job in matching each other’s quirks and freaks.

Professional mode on during work, you two agreed. And you two did very well on that promise.

But bringing her in for the role made it infinitely difficult for you to keep up your end of this deal.

“She’s an old friend of mine! We worked together on one of my very first projects, the small ones I used to tell you about.” He said this when you asked about her. You knew all that already, of course—it was part of your job.

But when the two finally met again in person, you saw it. As a casting director, your professional instincts felt it. You saw it in the way they instantly gravitated to each other, the way their eyes both sparkled, the way their hands naturally connected even after all those years apart.

They were perfect for the role.

And in your head, a small voice continued the thought you didn’t want to touch.

They were perfect for each other.

It was the same voice nagging in your head throughout the duration of the chemistry read. You knew this scene by heart as if you were the one auditioning for the role. You’ve watched how many callbacks and chemistry reads of this scene. And you knew what came next.

After the back-and-forth dialogue was a moment of silence, followed by a lingering gaze, which was sealed with a kiss that escalated to a bed scene. It was a pivotal moment in the film so it had to be perfect.

You’d almost been desensitized to your boyfriend doing such scenes—professional mode on as always. But all that work crumbled the moment you saw their eyes lock onscreen. Slowly, slowly, their faces inched closer together to meet in a kiss.

Your eyes burned. Your fist clenched as you saw his hand fist in her hair. Your jaw tightened when you saw her lips land in the corner of his jaw. And just as he brought her head down on the couch, the director called “Cut!” and you stood up to walk out of the room, not without feeling a stray tear fall down your cheek.

Jun heard the slam of the door and jerked his head toward the sound. That was all it took for him to know what happened.

He wasn't the only one to notice. Jun found the director’s eyes meeting his with a knowing look. “Alright,” the director started. “Well, they don't call it a chemistry read for nothing!” Scattered laughs filled the small room. “Thank you to both of you, that was absolutely amazing.”

The producers took the actress aside for a few words with other managers and staff. Your presence was notably absent.

Before Jun could slip away, he felt a hand on his shoulder. “That was the best read so far,” the director said.

“I know,” and with his eyebrows raised he continued, “I heard the door.”

The director just gave him a lighthearted laugh. “I’m sure we all did. But you know she would agree.”

Jun knew. So while everyone was preoccupied, he glanced at his manager—who already knew what he’d do—and set off to find you. It wasn’t a hard task because he opened the nearest door to the stairwell and found you leaning against the wall.

You met his eyes when you heard the door open, following him and his slight smile until he ended up a short distance beside you with his shoulder against the wall. You were adamant about not wanting him to see you break. You’re a professional, right?

“You know it’s not real,” he starts.

You scoff. “How is it not real when it was right in front of me?”

“Stop that, green isn’t a good color on you.”

“What?” Jarred, you look down at your staple all-black ensemble. “But green’s my favorite color. You told me you liked me in green.”

“Not when it’s green with jealousy.”

It took you two seconds to register what he said. The corner of your mouth twitched involuntarily at the quip. “I am not jealous.”

Jun barely held in a laugh. “Yeah, sure you aren’t.”

“I’m not!”

“Jealous you’re not the one I was kissing?”

“No, I—”

“Jealous you’re not the one I’m holding?” He reaches out and loops his finger through one of your belt loops to pull you closer, closer, until you’re both joined at the hip. He shifts to effectively pin you against the wall with his height. You shiver against his touch when his fingertips graze the base of your neck.

“Now, you stop that,” you breathily let out.

“Stop what?” He asks oh so innocently.

“This.”

“No. Not until I prove to you how real this is.” He grabs ahold of your hand, and places it somewhere you did not expect it to go: right over his clothed crotch.

He was wearing loose slacks, a piece that could easily hide things that need to be hidden. But if there was one thing you did know about Jun is that he gets hard quick and easy and it takes him a while to calm down. With your hand on it, you could feel it was anything but hard.

“You know me. You tell me if that read did anything remotely close to what you do to me.”

You open your mouth to speak, but before you can let out a reply, his lips land on yours. His actions catch you off-guard and you instinctively clutch onto his arms and your last bits of sanity. Just as quick, he breaks away and grabs your hand again to return it to where it came from.

“Keep it here, love. I need you to have the proof in your hands.” He brushes a stray hair from your face, and you see your own desire in his eyes reflected back to you. He leans in, but stops short of your lips, leaving you to chase after his touch. The smirk that followed was telling of his thoughts. He was teasing you. God.

You had no more patience for his fun and games. You could feel the pent-up frustration building. Whether from anger or sexual arousal, the line has been blurred irrevocably. With your free hand, you latch onto his hair and pull him in aggressively into an open-mouthed kiss.

It was at this moment that you both decided to think “fuck it” to all modes of professionalism.

He takes advantage of your open mouth and wastes no time diving deeper. You find yourself reciprocating his kisses, pulling him in closer as if recreating the scene you watched him do but making sure it was imprinted with your mark on him.

“I love you.” You hear it whispered, feel it muttered against your lips. “I love you, and only you,” he continues in between kisses. “I love you.”

And there it is: the proof you could feel quite literally in your hand, at the crux between his legs. If you weren’t too in the heat of the moment, you could almost laugh. He decided to prove his loyalty to you by showing that he did not get a boner during the chemistry read. It was your lips and your hands, and yours only, that could do this to him. It was peak Junhui.

But now, you were only aroused beyond comprehension, apparent in the pit of your core and the slick pooling in your panties. You squeeze him through his slacks and he moans lewdly in your mouth, echoing in the empty stairwell bearing witness to this obscenity.

He starts kissing and licking down your neck as you feel his hands snake under your blouse and your bra to squeeze in return, earning a gasp from your swollen mouth. You fist the hand you had in his hair tighter, fully aware that you are indeed messing it up and you will very much get a word from his stylist about this.

Your ringtone effectively silenced all other sounds you both made before things could go any further. You both stopped to look at each other with expressions that were hard to decipher whether in alarm or in exhilaration.

“Hello?”

You hear your director on the other end. “So have you two kissed and made up yet? Not literally, I hope.”

From the corner of your eye, Jun chuckled. You cleared your throat, but your voice was still a pitch too high when you replied, “Yeah, we’re good.”

“Alright, now come on back here. We have dinner prepared for everyone, including the new girl. We still need to talk about her.”

“Got it, boss.”

“Now, okay? We’ve been stalling for you two.”

Ah, shit. “Okay. On the way.” You dropped the call and looked at Jun leaning back against the wall, whose hair he managed to salvage and whose clothes were almost presentable. You couldn’t say the same for your half-open jeans and messed-up lipstick.

Wordlessly, he pulls you in and helps tidy you up—fixing your hair as you put your clothes back together and wipe off the stray lipstick from your face.

“For the record,” he says as he tucks your hair behind your ear, “whatever chemistry you see on the screen is only because I have you in my head to draw inspiration from. There’s a reason why people close their eyes when they kiss. It’s you I see every time.”

You usually love it when Junhui rambles like this. You still do now, but you also recall his “green with jealousy” line and it fills you with embarrassment.

“It’s just…it looked so real. It felt so real. That was the best chemistry read out of all of them.”

“So I was told earlier.”

“It made me feel so many things.” The exasperation was evident in your voice.

He takes your hands this time and holds them tight. “I’ll make you feel even more things, I’m sure. But I will not let you forget that I will make you feel loved the most. Okay?”

You sigh. You love him. “I love you, Jun.”

“I love you, too.” He raises a hand to press a kiss on your knuckles.

“Also remind me to call building security. I must tell them to delete that footage from the stairwell.”

Jun gives you a quiet smile, one full of mischief. “Not without securing a copy first. For me. Please?”

“I thought we were professionals!”

“We could add professional rule-breakers to that title, you know.”

Hmm. You reconsider his request. Yep, you could definitely match his freak. Perfect chemistry.

✎﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

post a/n: inbox is open for requests or additions to taglists!

[pillowspace]

Hihi!! Could I have some ISAT fic recs? Hurt/comfort is my fav but anything good is good~ Thank you!

I've read 200 ISAT fics, I'm gonna really have to think on which ones to put

Okay, here's your recs from my 200 fic scroll in no particular order <3 There's so many fics I like that I didn't put here, but I had to be picky about it so I didn't just put down everything I had

---

victim of your own creation by dysphoriahighschool

Siffrin has craved blood for as long as they can remember. After so many years of wandering, he's come to Vaugarde in hope of finding answers, just as the King's Curse begins freezing the country in time. He's quickly losing hope, but when they come across a small group determined to save Vaugarde from the King, Siffrin decides to join them. They can't get the answers they want if the country gets frozen in time, after all. They'd never traveled with other people before. Siffrin doesn't expect to grow attached to any of them, but as time goes on, the thought of leaving them hurts more and more. Worse yet, they refuse to even entertain the thought of one of them discovering what he is and what he's done. They just know that if they find out, they'll hate them.

Words: 192,175 | Chapters: 32/?

---

Stagger on Backwards by entryn17

[Ha… Ah?]

The fist opens. Hand turns. Fingers twirl. Again. And Again. You watch with mounting horror as your hand moves on its own, the actions becoming more frantic, more jittery, your chest starts to heave, stomach muscles spasming.

(Loop–)

[Stardust–]

They’re in your body. They’re in your body.

⯍

Or, after experiencing hundreds of grueling loops, Siffrin suddenly wakes up 3 months before they even started, on a bed in an infirmary, bandages wrapped tightly around their newly missing eye. Loop is there with them, too.

Words: 15,213 | Chapters: 3/?

---

UNCANNY ALL ALONG by entryn17

You can… you can still fix this. If you can just muster up enough want, you, both of you can come back from this.

“You can’t come back from anything! Hundreds of days spent in stasis, in your own personal handcrafted hell, an ice cold inferno – you think you’re the same person you were before you laid down on that meadow?”

✧

Or, trauma changes you, often in ways that leave you unrecognizable to even yourself. Now freshly out of the loops and rough around the edges, Siffrin with the help of their friends has to navigate not being the person they remember.

Words: 33,629 | Chapters: 8/?

---

Even in my fantasy, I can't commit to believing by Loafabun

You’re not sure what to think of Loop.

So far, you’ve come to two rather obvious conclusions during your time around them.

1) They’re… a star.

2) You don’t think they like you that much.

Words: 18,275 | Chapters: 3/3

---

Human After All by dunkalfredo

Isabeau, freshly recovered from burnout after rushing through graduate school, stumbles across an ad for a lab position at the research institute where his idol, Dr. Odile Yamamoto, conducts her work. Willing to risk another bout of burnout to potentially work with the Dr. Yamamoto, he applies for the position and gets the job. However, in the process of applying, it quickly becomes clear that something sinister is happening at this institute. He decides to go forward and accept the offer—only to find himself in way over his head in a conspiracy far bigger than himself.

(Or: Modern AU/Sci-fi. Isabeau goes back into the world of science after swearing it off only to end up in the Vaugarde equivalent of Area 51 and finds Siffrin, a shapeshifter of unknown origins, trapped deep underground in a padded cell. Unfortunately, he falls in love. Is their romance doomed? Could Siffrin ever escape? What is Siffrin, anyway? And, importantly—how does Odile factor into all of this?)

Words: 33,697 | Chapters: 3/8

---

The Funeral of Siffrin No Last Name by Kamary (SERIES of fics about ghost Siffrin)

"Ha, like, cut your ashes in equal parts like a pizza?"

(In a timeline that can not and will not take place, Siffrin dies. Unlike other times, he stays dead. Sort of.)

Words: 18,969 | Works: 3

---

Inutile by blueshine

Mirabelle doesn't know what to do. Not with her life, not with her faith, not with her own memory. Why does it feel like she's always forgetting something important?

Mirabelle is the Housemaiden. Isabeau is the Fighter. Odile is the Researcher. Bonnie is the Kid. And that's everyone!

It's raining in Dormont. If clouds cover the stars, are they still there?

Separate Sifloops-

Words: 173,378 | Chapters: 23/34

---

What became of you? by goldviola (Note: this one can get dark. I'm including it because I like it, but only read it if you're in that kind of mood)

After the world returned to normal, and everyone was safe and together once again, Isabeau noticed Siffrin's state. He knows they endured far beyond what he could ever hope to understand.

So a vague, earnest wish, mostly symbolic, was made, folded into a star shaped leaf gifted by a little girl.

I wish I could truly understand Siffrin, and always be there to help and love him.

Isabeau had no way of knowing The Universe would listen.

—

Or: Isabeau gets stuck in his own time loop, and does everything in his power to change it.

Words: 27,746 | Chapters: 1/1

---

Of Stars and Longing by Raaj

Months after saving Vaugarde together, Isabeau spots Siffrin lingering outside the window of his clothing shop. Naturally, he's excited! The Universe granted his wish!

...It still feels a little bad he had to wish for it, though. And something seems off with Siffrin.

Words: 4,979 | Chapters: 2/2

---

The love persists through it all. (The love persists through time.) by Pixxyofice

You are standing in front of a building. Nothing else is around- just a building. The building has a sign above a single door in big letters: TIME LOOP SURVIVORS SUPPORT GROUP. Hanging from that sign is a smaller sign reading Multidimensional!

... What the....

[...]

You let go of the door and look up as it clicks shut behind you.

You see

your family.

---

siffrin meets up with versions of his family who have suffered like he did. is this a blessing or a curse?

Words: 12,015 | Chapters: 1/?

---

Follow the stars back home by Loafabun (note: I haven't actually finished this fic, but I'd like to!)

There's an island north of Vaugarde. You were never able to remember its name. So why now? Why after all this time?

It's so close. You can see it now.

You want to go home.

Inspired by a post on Tumblr by @/auncyen!

Words: 77,781 | Chapters: 16/16

---

Thank you, kind wizard. For making me a frog. by Spinning_Planet_of_Love

With Siffrin's timelooping journey at an end, he walks away with a LOT of new information and trauma to process. Moving forward is a difficult feat, even with his family by his side.

Mirabelle suggests that, perhaps, keeping a journal to organize these thoughts and communicate his feelings to the others may help, so he decides to give it a try.

-

Contains spoilers for ALL content in ISAT, including achievements and quests dialogue, and eventually the epilogue too.

Words: 74,662 | Chapters: 18/?

---

Bleeding in Monochrome by JustSalPals

You're the first one to notice.

(After the events of the game, red stayed in this world of black and white.)

Words: 3,061 | Chapters: 1/1

---

And if I were not myself, would this be easier? by rabbit_soup

Siffrin and his party's journey to Bambouche, and how he needs to learn to deal with what happened to him during the loops. Between nightmares, regaining his humanity, and his new-found PTSD, Siffrin is sure he's being a burden to his family. They, however, think otherwise.

Hopefully they'll make it to Bambouche in one piece.

Or

Siffrin is traumatized and his friends love him a whole lot.

Words: 63,086 | Chapters: 13/?

---

Natural Satellite by dirtbagtrashcat

After a hundred miserable loops, Siffrin makes a wish. Isabeau gets caught in the crossfire.

(…yes, it’s another Isa Loops AU. but hear me out! rock might beat scissors, but there’s no stone in the cosmos that can resist the gravitational pull of a star.)

Words: 55,043 | Chapters: 14/14

---

Bloom by Level99Eevee

After breaking free of the loops, Siffrin is more than ready to move on and enjoy life again. They’re with their family—their friends—for another journey, one without the King’s Curse nipping at their heels, and everyone will be together for the foreseeable future. So Siffrin is fine. Great, even! The others don’t need to know that the aftermath of their experience in Dormont still hangs heavy as a noose around their neck.

They just need to get over it.

-

Or: Siffrin has trauma, learning to open up is a process, and the others realize the loops left deeper scars than previously thought.

Words: 41,445 | Chapters: 7/7

To Cut You Open With a Knife and Find Your Sacred Heart by Hexea_Art

They didn't know how they remembered but they both knew that there are legends about these fae doppelgangers, that they wish for nothing more than to steal the heart of the person whose face they stole, for power, for acceptance, to trick more people, to lessen how uncanny they could be.

Either way, it's a death wish to be around someone who shares the same face.

So of course Siffrin and Loop decided to travel together.

(Aka an ISAT changeling AU)

Words: 73,358 | Chapters: 19/21

---

raconte-moi qu’on puisse crier tout bas by bibliomaniac

After everything, Loop is struggling to find their place in the world. Siffrin is struggling to adjust to life outside the loops. Isabeau is struggling to balance his love for Siffrin with his need to keep them safe, alongside his own worries about Changing. Politely, things could be better!

But when Loop joins the party on their journey, things tilt even more drastically off course. They'll all need to reconcile their past with their present growing feelings and with the future they're beginning to want. Maybe they'll even do it, too.

It will just blinding suck along the way.

Words: 100,632 | Chapters: 17/?

---

ghostlight by Kittenixie

ghostlight - a single lamp placed on stage to keep the theatre from being in total darkness after everyone’s gone.

After trying and failing to kill Siffrin to take his place, Loop tries to disappear. Siffrin makes them stay. They figure things out together.

Staying with Siffrin's party in Dormont's House of Change, Loop starts down the long, winding path towards recovery, carefully trying to navigate the complicated knot of trauma and grief that the loops have left behind.

Words: 86,075 | Chapters: 24/24

Sequel is back to one | Words: 71,525 | Chapters: 14/?

[five-rivers]

Smoothie Chapter 1

Started a fic based on this post. Enjoy!

.

The doors of Long Now creaked open in front of Danny, and he walked in, murmuring thanks to Long Now.  The doors closed again behind him, and once they did, Danny could hear the wonderful sound of Observants shrieking for Clockwork to do something emanating from the Viewing Hall.  

He sighed, disappointed.  Most of the time, when he visited Long Now, he didn’t come for any specific purpose, but today he’d hoped to get some help on a history paper (he didn’t even know where to start, and it was a whole ten percent of his grade by itself) and to get a snack (his parents had forgotten to get groceries earlier in the week, and the nearest grocery store had been trashed by a ghost fight, so it was unlikely they’d get any today, either).  With the Observants yelling at him, it didn’t sound like he’d even be able to hang out with Clockwork.  

The Observants would probably throw a fit if they noticed Danny here, too.  He glanced back at the doors, but Long Now had, rather coyly, in Danny’s opinion, not only barred them but maneuvered a pair of large gears and a stout chain over them.  

It looked like Long Now wanted him to stay, anyway.  He looked up.  For some reason, he always felt a little more comfortable addressing the huge clockwork mechanism at the center of the lair as Long Now, even though Long Now was the entire structure around him.  “I don’t suppose you have any snacks I can eat?”

Danny thought he could probably find his way to the kitchen on his own…  But also that it would be a bit rude to wander in and eat Clockwork’s food like that without asking.  If Long Now gave him permission, though…

The gears in the walls moved, sliding open a door on the other side of the entryway.  Danny grinned.  “Thanks!” he said, quietly.  

He followed the movement of gears and chains through narrow hallways until he reached a small, but well-appointed vaguely modern kitchen.  At first, Danny couldn’t see a refrigerator, but then a door swung open invitingly, and Danny realized that Clockwork had a walk-in fridge.  

Cool.  Literally.  

He snickered at his own joke, then stepped up to the doorway.  “It is okay for me to take some of this, right?” he asked.  The door didn’t slam in his face, so he took that as a yes.  He went in.  

Clockwork’s (cavernous) fridge, as it turned out, was as meticulously arranged and organized as the rest of Long Now.  Each kind of food seemed to have its own dedicated and labeled space.  Wandering, Danny read Rampion - Witch’s Garden on the shelf under some salad, Turkish Delight - Charn underneath some odd, long, squarish blocks, and Pomegranates - Stygian Shores.  

He puzzled at the labels for a little while, before he realized that they must be - what did Sam call them? - cultivars.  Cultivars of different kinds of plants.  Ghostly cultivars?  They looked interesting.  Maybe later, he could ask Clockwork if he could bring some to Sam, she liked that sort of thing.  

In the meantime, though…  He looked around at all the fruit on the shelves and a bucket labeled Spirit Ice - Far Frozen and decided.  “I’m going to make a smoothie,” he told Long Now.  

There was a rustle outside the fridge, and Danny peeked out to see that a blender had been deposited on the kitchen counter.  He grinned and went back inside to find his ingredients.  

The ice first, of course.  Then, he needed some fruit.  He started to browse.  What looked good…?  The pomegranates, Sam said they were good for you, and he'd liked them when she gave him some.  Then a bowl of Snow-Ripe Strawberries - Three Dwarves’ Cottage.  The Immortal Peaches - Kunlun looked good.  He'd have to peel and pit them before putting them in the blender, but he'd have to prepare the pomegranates, too, so it wasn't an issue.  Ooh, he wondered how good Orange - Clockwork Nirvana of Mechanus tasted for Clockwork to put his name on it.  Although that might just be a coincidence.  Then, Fairy Apples - Autumn Court rounded out his selection.

That was probably enough to make a decent smoothie, but he’d really like some milk, or maybe a banana, to make it thicker.  He scanned the shelves again.  He hadn’t noticed any bananas, but he was sure he’d seen milk.  There!  Looking Glass Milk - Wonderland.  It even looked like whole milk when he sloshed it back and forth in its glass container, which was better for this kind of thing than skim milk.  

He carried his loot back out to the kitchen proper and pulled out a cutting board and knife so he could get everything prepared before he tossed it in the blender.  He’d wash up as soon as he was done.  

First the ice (a little hard to chip into useable chunks, but his own ice powers helped), then he opened up the pomegranate by cutting off the ends and scoring the sides so he could peel them away (and he didn’t make the kitchen look like a crime scene, so take that, Sam).  He brushed off the seeds into the blender.  They looked kind of cool, the little seeds sifting down between the larger chunks of ice.  Then, he plucked the stems off the strawberries and cut them in quarters before dropping them in (that always made them blend a little better when he was at home).  He decided to juice the oranges, rather than dropping in whole slices, since the skin of the sections might not blend well.  That left the apples, which he cored and cut into little chunks, and the peaches, which he dithered over.  He’d never actually peeled a peach before, but although he didn’t mind the fuzzy outside when he was eating slices, he didn’t want the little hairs in a smoothie.  Eventually, he decided to just go for it.  It didn’t matter how mangled the pieces were before they went into the blender, after all.  Finally, he poured the nice, thick milk over the whole thing, filling in all the nooks and crannies.

Danny made sure the blender lid was securely fastened before he started to pulse it.  He’d made the mistake of not checking once before.  Thankfully, any large kitchen mishaps at home could be blamed on the hot dogs, so he’d gotten out of that without getting in trouble.  

Soon, the contents of the blender were a nice, smooth, thick, pink with a few dots of darker colors here and there.  He found a glass big enough to hold the smoothie in one of Clockwork’s cabinets, then poured it in.  

On the other side of the kitchen, a door creaked open, and Danny, holding the smoothie, investigated.  The room on the other side was the cozy little dining room that Clockwork sometimes served Danny tea in.  

“Thanks,” Danny told Long Now again, before finding a seat.  He’d drink his smoothie here, then clean up the kitchen, and if Clockwork was still arguing with the Observants… well, Danny should probably go home at that point…  He sipped his smoothie.  Oh, that was good.  He took another, deeper gulp. 

The smoothie was very good, in fact.  One of the best he’d made, if he did say so himself.  All of the flavors balanced perfectly, and the temperature and texture were just right.  Although they might not be for someone who wasn’t a cold core ghost.  The good thing about having ice powers was that he never got brain freeze anymore.  

Leisurely, Danny drank his smoothie.  He didn’t trouble himself to drink it very quickly.  He wanted to stay long enough for Clockwork to finish with the Observants.  He at least wanted to say ‘hi.’ 

But by the time he finished the smoothie, Clockwork was still nowhere to be found.  He sighed and carried his empty cup back to the kitchen.  What he really wanted to do was find a comfortable place to curl up in and go straight to food coma land, but he really couldn’t leave Clockwork’s kitchen like that.  

He put the blender in the sink to soak a little (he should have done that before, but he’d forgotten), then washed the cutting board and knife.  There were some crumbs in other parts of the kitchen - and those were not from him - and a few places were dusty, so Danny wiped those down.  Long Now helpfully produced a broom and dustpan, and Danny swept the floors as well.  Then, he went back to the sink and started taking apart the blender.  

The door of the kitchen swung open and Clockwork flew in, shoulders tense and tail flicking with agitation.  He made a beeline directly for Danny.

“Oh, hi!” said Danny, raising the pitcher part blender.  “I was just cleaning up–”

“What did you eat?” asked Clockwork.  He didn’t sound mad, exactly, but there was an urgency in his tone that put Danny immediately on edge.  

“A smoothie?”

“With what in it?”

“Um, some of the stuff from your fridge,” said Danny, gesturing with the blender.  “Some milk, ice, and fruit?”

“What exactly?”

“Um,” said Danny.  “Snow strawberries, eternal peaches, a pomegranate, a clockwork orange, fairy apples, and…  I think that was it?  And the milk and ice.”

“Show me what you took,” said Clockwork.  

“Okay,” said Danny.  “I’m sorry, Long Now opened the door, and I asked if it was okay, I didn’t mean to take stuff you were using later…”

Clockwork’s lips had gone very thin, and Danny could see wrinkles spread out from the corners of his eyes and mouth as he aged forward.  

“Sorry,” Danny said again.  

“It is not your fault, but I must see what it is that you ate.”

Danny nodded and went into the fridge.  He pointed out each place that he’d taken something from, even the ice and milk.  He had gotten some of the names wrong, but he was pretty sure he got everything.  

However, with each thing Danny pointed out, Clockwork looked more and more stressed.  Even when Danny had just taken one fruit out of a whole basket.  

“I’m sorry,” repeated Danny, tapping his fingers together nervously.  He didn’t entirely understand what he’d done wrong, but it was clear he’d screwed up.  “I don’t know these cultivars, but I can get you new fruit from the store or something?”

Clockwork turned to him, face grim.  “These labels are not cultivars.  Rather, they are not only cultivars.  They are the places they come from.  These pomegranates from the River Styx are the brothers and sisters of the one that bound Persephone to Hades for half the year.  The apples are the ones that the fae of the Autumn Court use to trap people in their realm.  The orange carried with it some of the Laws of Mechanus, although I do not know how those will behave exposed to the other fruit.  None of these things were for eating.  They are dangerous and powerful things those Realms have given me as gifts.”

“Oh,” said Danny, feeling very small and stupid.  

Clockwork rubbed the bridge of his nose.  “If the Observants had not blocked me, I never would have allowed Long Now to even show you this room.”

“What’s going to happen to me?” asked Danny.  “Should I try to throw up or something?”

“No,” said Clockwork.  “It is far too late for that.  As for what will happen…  If it were only one or the other of them, then the effects would be clear.  There would even be some precedent for eating one then another.  But when you ate them all at once, all blended together…”  He shook his head.  “Regardless, you cannot be left bound.  We will have to negotiate for your release.”

“Release?” asked Danny, feeling queasy.  

“From the obligations you incurred by eating those things.  Some of them, I think, will not be so difficult.  Others…  There are some things I must put into order before we can leave.  Stay here.  And do not sleep.”

Clockwork left the way he’d come, leaving Danny alone in the kitchen once more.  There was something smug about how the door latched itself.  

“You tricked me,” said Danny, reproachfully.  

The ticking in the walls sounded like giggles.  He didn’t receive any other response.  

With nothing else to do until Clockwork came back, Danny finished washing the blender.  

[fuctacles]

Dude, That's My Ghost! - the smut

Ayo, the smut part of my gift for @hellfireloserclub is now up on Ao3! Tysm for the great prompts that made it happen :D <3 And thanks @steddieexchange for organizing! I love writing gift fics <3

First piece here, second below, or you can read it in full on Ao3

La Petite Mort

After a week of Eddie making him come before sleep, Steve finally asks:

"What do you get out of it?"

The hairs on his chest move gently with invisible fingers raking and tugging at it.

"...I like watching...well...that sounds bad..."

Steve laughs.

"Yeah, a bit."

"...it feels good...making you feel good...I always liked giving...and now it feels like..."

Steve waits, but when all he gets is quiet static, he frowns.

"Like what?"

".....like I have a body again...for a second...I can feel you against me..."

His eyes widen.

"Oh. I thought it was just my imagination."

"...what?..."

"When I come, it feels like you're here."

They ruminate in silence for quite a while, before the radio starts switching through stations, like Eddie's trying to grasp a thought. His thoughts must be going very far away, considering Steve stops recognizing the language of the stations he's catching.

"...la petite mort... "

Steve raises his eyebrows.

"The orgasm thing? Uh..." He knows Robin had mentioned it to him at some point. "The little death?"

"...oui..."

"Okay, come back to America, please," Steve snorts, and the stations start switching back. He hums in thought. "So it's like I die for a second? And our souls touch?"

"...that sounds... both sweet and disgusting somehow..."

"Yeah," Steve chuckles. "But do you think it's possible?"

"...dude...I summoned...a demon...everything is possible..."

"Fuck, you're right." He falls back against the pillows. "So when I die, will we fuck as souls?"

"...you proposing to me?..."

His next laugh is dry and humorless.

"I lost my soulmate, so might as well."

"...what happened?..." Eddie manages to ask softly despite the jarring sounds of the radio.

"I don't know," Steve shrugs, his mood plummeting. It's been half a year and it doesn't stop hurting, still doesn't make sense. "I met him and our marks just... disappeared."

"...wait!..."

"Dude!" Steve jumps, startled by the sudden peak in volume.

"...sorry, but... I saw your mark?...the little bird..."

"Ah," he smiles, genuinely this time. "It's Robin. I guess I was too greedy wanting two soulmates, right? She's my platonic one, but I was hoping the other would be The One, you know?" he sighs. "Still kind of cruel of the universe to dangle it in front of me and then just... yank it away."

"...what the fuck man..."

"I know."

"...I'd make a rebound joke... but that's just fucked up..."

They don't speak for a while, radio static being the only sound in the room.

"I mean, I still have Robin, and now I have you too," Steve thinks out loud, staring at the crooked ceiling. "I don't have a soulmate, you don't have a body, maybe it was meant to be."

"...you ARE proposing to me!..."

Steve laughs.

"Sure, why not? Wanna seal it with a kiss?"

It's fun, having Eddie around. Maybe the most fun he's had since high school. He doesn't tell Robin, afraid she'd try to psychoanalyze him, but she knows him too well and worries anyway.

"You never go anywhere."

"You stopped hitting on the babes."

"What about your bi awakening?"

So he goes out with her, meets new people and acts his best, thinking all the time how much better it would be in bed with Eddie, with the phantom touch of his hands and mouth. He can't get drunk with him, but maybe they could dance, somehow?

When he gets back, all the air is pushed out of his lungs as he's being pressed against the door.

"What the fuck, man?" he laughs.

"... I am...so bored..."

"Did you read through the books I brought?"

"...twice..."

An invisible mouth is assaulting his neck and he wishes it could leave marks.

"Jesus," Steve breathes out, "The library nerds will think I'm one of them—ah!"

He's suddenly pulled to the floor, his zipper flying open.

"You're that bored you need to suck cock?"

"...I always need... to suck cock...."

"Okay then, have at it."

It's only after he comes, ruining another pair of jeans, that he remembers his trail of thought from earlier.

"Do you want to dance?"

"...what...?"

"You can pick the song. I was at the club with Robin tonight, and I thought..." he trails off, shucking away his jeans and pulling up his boxers. It's quite an unorthodox dancing attire, but he doesn't know what his partner is wearing anyway.

The radio switches to something new. It's still heavy, the way Eddie likes it, but more suitable to embracing each other in a slow dance. A metal ballad. Something presses to Steve's front, grabbing his hips. He sighs.

"This is nice," he says, hands hovering before hopelessly falling at his sides. "I wish I could touch you."

His head is cradled towards an invisible shoulder. He can feel the pressure, but the comfort is barely there, and he wonders if this is all he's going to get until the day he dies.

They dance to a couple of songs before falling into bed, too exhausted for anything else. The presence of another person next to him lulls Steve to sleep.

Almost every day, he brings Eddie new books and newspapers, figuring it would do him good to be up to date with the outside world. Usually, he has nowhere to be, so he enjoys the scraps of companionship when he reads silently, while he pretends to be doing his coursework.

He's watching the pages of the local paper flip in the air, when suddenly, there's a slam on the desk they share.

"...HE...SHAVED...MY HAIR!..."

"Fuck!" Steve slams his knee against the wood. "What happened?!"

The newspaper slaps in front of him, on top of the books he's been half-reading through, and one of the photos dents under an invisible finger.

"...He!...Shaved!...My hair!..."

Corroded Coffin headlining at the Halloween Festival

"...He stole my body!...and my band!!!..."

"Eddie, please stop yelling," Steve winces at his ghost friend's volume. He snatches the paper to get a better look at the small, black-and-white photo.

"...Can't!..."

Eddie keeps trashing in his periphery, all the loose objects around them rattling like there's an earthquake. Steve swats him away, moving closer to the lamplight. He taps the face of one of the men in the photo.

"He kind of looks like that guy from the festival," he muses, turning both his head and the paper like it could make the photo clearer.

"...That's me!..."

"This," Steve points to the front-man with a shaved head and a guitar in his hand. "Is you?"

"...Yes...except...it's the demon!...and he cut my hair!..."

He stares at the photo.

"It was in May. I've talked to a demon. I shook hands with a demon." Then, a dreadful realization hits him. "Eddie," he chokes out. "What was your soul-mark?"

"...nail bat..."

"Oh my god..." He drops the paper and falls heavily back on his chair. "I saw it disappear." Involuntarily, he looks at the empty skin of his forearm.

"...What...was yours?..."

"A swarm of bats," Steve answers, tracing the space with his finger.

"...fucking love bats..."

He laughs.

"...why nail bat...?"

Steve hums. He doesn't like talking about it.

"I fought monsters with it," he gives the short version and Eddie, thankfully, doesn't pry.

"...that's badass..."

"Thanks," he smiles. "We're soulmates," he finally says out loud, then frowns. "Were soulmates?"

"...well...we both still have souls..."

"Right. But do you think he could have... fucked it up somehow? The bond?" Steve worries.

"...I still like you...and have no other marks...do you?..."

"Just Robin and you, apparently."

"...so..."

"So..."

"...soulmates?..."

"Soulmates." Steve smiles genuinely into the ether. 

Read more

[jehhskz]

Love Again

she fell first, and she fell harder

summary: you just got back to Seoul, and hopefully you'll get back into his heart too

genre: romance, fluffy cliche, second chances, smut

warning: this fic contains smut, so it was made for adults only, MDNI.

jé's note: did a little something super self indulgent, if you read this, please be kind, it's my first time and english isn't my first language. huge thank you for my girlies for all the support, special thanks to @doitforbangchan & @jeonginsleftcheek for beta reading it, your words made me happy. and it got a little big, so i had to split it into 2, the link for part 2 will be at the end of part 1

divider by @saradika-graphics

Drinks in hand, crowded dance floor and Chk Chk Boom's full volume, up next was Get Lit, and everybody screamed, you cheered with your best friend clinking glasses and sitting down.

“What are we celebrating?” A random glass clinked with yours and you looked to the side, a tall and really pretty guy smirked at you two. 

“Her promotion and return to Seoul!” Heyoon exclaimed excitedly and the boy chuckled, sitting down next to her.

“Oh really? That 's amazing!” He nodded to you and you grinned, thanking him.

“I am Tae-joon” He smiled at you two.

“Heyoon, and this is Y/N” Your best friend presented you both, you glanced at her and smirked, she had that look in her eyes.

It didn't take much talk for you to realize you were third wheeling, so you excused yourself saying you were going to the restroom. 

Once there, you fixed your makeup, applied some more lipstick and decided to walk around. The place was crowded, it felt like Felix invited all of Seoul to be here. 

You spotted the birthday boys, Felix dancing, Han and Seungmin talking with some friends, soon enough Chan and Minho showing up with some drinks to join them, Jeongin flirting with a girl, Heyoon making out with Tae-joon and Changbin dancing with a girl nearby. 

7 out of 8, you freezed on your heels, it was your 4th time walking around, if he wasn’t here he must be… 

No, no, you shook those thoughts out of your head, and even if he was sucking faces or whatever the hell could be happening behind some of those closed doors here, it was none of your business, right? It stopped being your business a while ago, 2 years to be exactly.

But it’s not like you were counting, anyway. 

You went to sit on the couch across Heyoon, Jeongin now was kissing the redhead he was talking to early. Too distracted watching people, you didn't perceive the boy who sat by your side. 

“Guess I lost my friend” He commented when he saw Heyoon waving at you before she and Tae-joon walked away. 

“Uh?” You looked at him with curiosity, and he motioned to Tae-joon. 

“Oh yeah, so did I” You slightly smiled, shrugging. You chatted for a while, you learned his name was Min Kyu, he was a software engineer, and also had the cutest dimples when he smiled. 

He asked if you wanted to dance and his dimples appeared when you said yes, so he grabbed your hand and you two headed to the crowded dance floor. As you two swang to the beat you could feel him getting closer and his hands making its way to your waist. 

Yours found their way to his shoulders, you were having fun slowly approaching each other and you could lie to yourself saying you were taking glances around to check if Heyoon was around, but this excuse failed as soon as your heart skipped a beat. 

There, leaning against the wall, looking so effortlessly handsome in his black jacket, up a white shirt and a pair of dark jeans: 8/8 you checked off your list.

He was alone? That was too good to be true. 

And it really was, because it didn't take long until Changbin appeared along with 2 girls with the tiniest skirts you've ever seen.  

He stared at you, his gaze was unreadable and all you wanted was to dig a hole on the floor right there and jump in. 

“Are you alright?” Min Kyu leaned down, you could see Hyunjin's eyes still glued on you as he spoke with one of the girls, unbothered by her hand touching his arm.

 “Yeah, just a little thirsty” You looked away from him and faced Min Kyu, his eyebrows furrowed as he looked down at you with concern, his hands were still resting on your waist.

“Oh, wait here. I'll get us something to drink” He smiled and you nodded, watching him go away. 

You did your best to avoid looking in Hyunjin's direction, but curiosity kept taking the best of you and you had to take some glances, the girl was still there, the four of them now laughing at something Hyunjin said and you rolled your eyes. What could be so funny? 

He looked at you while he talked, he had that grin. Damn.

“Here's it, I saw you weren’t drinking beer so I brought you this instead ” Min Kyu's voice brought you back to reality and you turned to look at him, he handed you a lemon drink and you smiled as your fingers briefly brushed as you took the glass from his hand, taking a little sip and thanking him.

“Hmm, it's too loud in here, why don't we go talk outside?” You suggested, he smiled at you and then you realized the implication on your request, as you both made your way out. 

Too bad you were leaving, you didn't see Hyunjin's grin fading away. 

~ {♡} ~ 

Min Kyu guided you outside, it was nice there. Some couples were kissing on the benches while a few other people were just talking and smoking, you chuckled, comparing the contrast with the agitation from inside although you could still listen to the music coming from there. 

You two sat down at a secluded bench, talking and enjoying your drinks, you smiled and nodded at his words, deep down wishing he wouldn’t ask you anything that required an actual reply. Yeah your body was outside, but your mind was away, lost in the different scenarios that could be happening inside there.

But luckily you didn't have to worry about appearing to be rude to Min Kyu as words weren't necessary at that moment, you realized that as you watched him closing the distance between you. 

He was going to kiss you and you'd like it, of course you would. 

He was cute, he was being nice, and most important: he wasn't there talking to mini skirts bitches and letting them rub him as if he was some kind of genie in a bottle ready to grant their dirty wishes. 

The gentle touch of his hand putting a strand of your hair behind your ear brought you back to reality, you looked at him and his cute dimples as he smiled leaning closer, you closed your eyes, his lips barely inches from yours. 

Focus on him, y/n. It was happening!

Oh, sorireul jireuneun naega oh… 

You two jumped at the loud intro of Thunderous.

Min Kyu is a Stay? Really? 

Another check on your list: his cologne smelled good plus he had good taste in music. Although listening to your ex's song when you were about to kiss someone new feels a little weird, you had to admit.

His trembling hand reached for his phone inside his pocket, he rolled his eyes at the name on screen.

“Ji-an, what's up?” He looked annoyed as he heard her speaking on the other side. 

“You did what?” He closed his eyes and ran his hand through his hair, he was annoyed. 

“No, you're not. Say your friends goodbye, I’m going there, you're still grounded, did you forget that?” His voice was hard as he spoke his last words and ended the call. 

He turned to you, offering a shy smile. 

“I'm sorry, my sister is grounded and our parents are out of town, she thought it meant a free pass to her to get some friends over” He looked disappointed, and so did you, but you gave him an understanding smile. 

“It's alright” You gently squeezed his hand. 

“I'm sorry, maybe we can meet up another time? I'd love to see you again” He handed his phone to you and you added your number on the device before giving it back to him.

“I'd love that” You smiled as he gave you a kiss on the cheek before leaving. You watched him go and sighed, deciding to go back inside, maybe you could meet some friend there and distract your mind.

Hyunjin knew you'd be there, Felix had told him about you moving back, and it would be a lie to say he wasn't eager to see you. 

You looked pretty in your crimson dress with matching crimson soft lips that he still remembered how they felt on his own. He sighed, you looked prettier than he remembered. 

He haven't seen you during those years, all he knew from you was little snippets he overheard here and there from the boys and mutual friends. There was a boy, back in Busan, he rolled his eyes, of course there was, but it’s over now, he assumed as he watched you and Min Kyu so closely. 

Hyunjin was annoyed, he wanted to go there and ruin whatever Min Kyu’s plans were, and he was about to do it, when he was interrupted by Changbin and his friends. He sighed, he wasn't in the mood today.

Your annoyed stare caught his attention and he smirked, maybe he was in the mood today. He saw your struggle to look away, your hands clenching as the girl touched his arm, he grinned, he was having fun, until he watched you two leaving. 

Getting rid of them wasn't easy, but when he was heading outside Min Kyu passed him by, and he was in a hurry and alone. 

Hm, interesting, Hyunjin thought.

As you were crossing the door you were surprised by a collision. Your drink spilled on your dress and on the floor. 

“Oh shit! Don't you look where you're going?” You were looking down, checking your dress. “It will stain” a well known chuckle made you lift your head.

“Look who's back” He crossed his arms, smirking at you.

“Hyunjin…” Your eyes widened as you glanced at him, your breathing getting caught on your throat.

“Aren't you going to present me to your boyfriend?” He looked around, before grinning at you and you looked down.

“He's not my… damn, it's staining!” His gaze followed your desperate hand on the wet spot on the dress. 

He rolled his eyes and grabbed you by your wrist, pulling you inside making you follow him to the restroom. 

He opened the door and you two got in, after closing it behind him, he quickly kneeled down in front of you, making you gasp. 

“What are you doing?” You asked with gritted teeth.

“Cleaning up your mess, what else do you think I am doing?” He grabbed some tissues and started dabbing it on the fabric, his free hand holding your leg. 

He suddenly looked up at you, grinning. “Ohh you thought I was about to…”

You trembled slightly, looking up to the ceiling and wishing he didn't notice, but he did, his grin getting wilder.

“You really did, y/n you naugh…” His eyes sparked with mischief.

“Stop it!” You hissed and he chuckled, you grabbed the tissue from his hand and started dabbing the almost gone stain.

“You stop it!” He pushed your hand away and grabbed the tissue back, going back to his previous task, the grip on your thigh got slightly harder. 

“Are you done?” A few moments passed when you asked, looking down, the stain was gone, thank God. 

“Almost…” You watched as he dragged the tissue to your thigh, cleaning the tiny drops there. 

His lips were parted and he was taking his time as he cleaned the nonexistent drops. Your heart wanted to believe he was using a silly excuse to touch you, as you felt his fingertips brushing against your skin every so often, but your brain was telling you he was just into autopilot, cleaning up the mess he did, and for all you know it could be the alcohol playing too. 

You two were startled as the door opened suddenly, looking to the side you saw a very drunk girl step in. She looked from you to Hyunjin who was still kneeling in front of you, with his hands on your thighs and she giggled.

“Opss, am I interrupting something?” 

“No, nothing. I’m already leaving” You saw the way she was looking at him after your reply, and didn't think twice before you act as you wrapped your fingers around his wrist and pulled him to stand up. “Actually, we are leaving!” 

The drunk girl waved him goodbye and signed a “call me” as you dragged him out with you, Hyunjin laughed and you realized you were still holding him and dragging him to wherever. You let go of his hand, cheeks getting warm.

“You're still jealous of me” His tone was cocky as he stopped by your side, lifting his chin.

“You wish!” You did your best to look unbothered, crossing your arms and looking away.

“You're. You almost made me fall on face just to get me away from that girl” 

“Well, if you wanna talk to her so badly, go after her then” You said nonchalantly, but deep inside you were burning, and not in a good way.

“Awn, I forgot how cute you get when you're jealous” He squeezed your cheeks, laughing.

“Stop that!” You slapped his hands and he laughed more. “I already said I'm not” 

“Admit it. You die for me” You stared at him and it wasn't a good idea, because when he said that, he licked his lips as he nodded. 

God, you were not the strongest soldier. 

“Y/N and Hyunjin!” A drunk Felix appeared, he threw an arm over each of your shoulders, bringing you close. “Two of my favorite people!”

“C'mon, we are about to go play spin the bottle” He started dragging you two with him, but you stopped.

“Lixie, no, I can't play, I was just about to leave and…”

“She's looking for her boyfriend” Hyunjin said and Felix's lips turned down.

“I already said he's not my boyfriend!” You snapped at him.

“Perfect, so you can play” Felix clapped, grinning again and you shook your head no.

“Just a few rounds, please. You can't say no to the birthday person, it's the rule” Felix insisted as he held both of yours hands.

“Your birthday's only sunday” You scoffed.

“Well, but it's my birthday and I would like to see you play” Jisung suddenly appeared behind you, you jolted and it made Hyunjin and Felix chuckle.

“Yeah, he's right, now come with us” Felix held you by your shoulders before you could try to protest some more and guided you to where the group was.

You were nervous as you sat down on the floor and took a look around, the boys were all here, along with some of their friends, Yuna, Chaeryeong, Nabi and some other girls you didn't know yet. 

Quickly glancing at him, your heart sank when Hyunjin sat down beside you. The way those girls looked at him made your stomach twist and you wanted to get up and leave, not wanting to watch him kissing randoms. 

Felix gently squeezed your hand when you shifted on your seat, probably sensing what you were trying to do. You sighed, staying in place, he smirked, tapping your hand.

Some rounds went down and it wasn't getting any easier on your anxiety, but at least Hyunjin hasn't kissed anyone yet. 

Yet… The look on those girls' eyes when it was their turn made your stomach twist each time. 

He took glances at you every time the bottle stopped, noticing your sigh of relief, and he couldn’t help but smirk to himself, you've never been good at concealing anything, especially your feelings for him and he finds it adorable. 

But if we were being honest, he felt relief too when the bottle didn't stop at you.

It was Chaeryeong’s turn and judging by the way everybody screamed when the bottle stopped at Changbin and their heated makeout, you realized you had a lot to catch up on in your friends lives. 

Being there for a good while now, you were ready to get up and leave, when Seungmin screamed it was your turn now and you dead stared at him, a smirk crossing the menace's face.

Everybody's eyes were on you as your shaking hand grabbed the bottle and you held your breath as it spinned and spinned.

Until it lost speed and stopped at Jisung…

And then at Hyunjin. You looked up and saw Changbin's mischievous smile. It happened too quickly and it seemed like everybody was too drunk to notice when he nudged the bottle with his foot. 

Everybody cheered, well, almost everybody, you didn't see it but those girls staring at him early had pouts on their mouths, one of them - mini skirt from earlier - tried to protest but Minho quickly covered her mouth with his hand.

You turned to face him, his piercing eyes already staring at you. You were glad the music was loud, otherwise everyone would be able to hear your heart beating like drums and you looked down. 

Stereo Love came on and you rolled your eyes, it's the same song that was playing when he kissed you for the first time, ironically at this same club, only difference you didn't have expectators. 

Isn't it funny how life always found ways to mess up with you?

Hyunjin touched your chin with his slender finger, lifting your face as he leaned closer, his piercing eyes going from your eyes to your lips. You closed yours and then you felt his breath against your face, mingling with your own, his plump lips brushing against yours lightly. 

Feeling your lips being pressed against his own, your lips connected, his tongue slowly running on your bottom lip and you parted them giving him entrance. Your hands wrapped around his neck, going up to play with his hair as his hands snaked around your waist and then he swiftly placed you on his lap, making you softly moan against his lips in surprise. 

He smirked, realizing how much he missed your little sounds. One hand went on your hair, his fingers entangling on the strands and angling your head to deepen the kiss. Somebody whistled, but you didn't even notice. The only thing you noticed was the groan that escaped his throat when your nails slightly scratched the back of his neck, earning a bite on your bottom lip as response, and now the sounds were escaping from your lips again. 

Your mind was foggy as you felt his soft lips on yours.

Oh how much you missed his kisses, the taste of his lips, his scent… And from the way he was kissing you, it seemed like he missed it too. 

The kiss was hungry, as your tongues explored each other’s mouths, his grip on your hips getting harder as you pulled his hair.

It happened in a blur, in a moment you were playing a silly game, sitting on his lap, devouring each other and on the other your back was pressed against the wall, you two hidden in a corner of the club, your soft moans mixing with the music as he had his leg in between yours, one hand in your hips pulling you closer to him, pressing your bodies together and the volume on his pants was making you dizzy. 

You whined in protest when his lips left yours, chasing them again and he chuckled, giving you a peck before making a trail of kisses from your jaw to your neck, finding that spot under your ear that makes you shiver. 

“I knew it, you still like me…” He smirked against your skin as he whispered in your ear. 

God, he was so cocky… And you found it so fucking hot! 

You rolled your eyes and instead of lying you decided to shut him up by grabbing his face and kissing him again. He was taken back by your sudden attitude, but was quick to kiss you back even more intensively.

Hyunjin loved it when you got bold like this, your hand went to his shoulder, sliding down his chest and to the south. He moaned in anticipation.  

Your fingertips brushed the outline of his bulge when the annoying buzz of your phone snapped you back to reality. You jolted, withdrawing your hand and he whined, trying to grab your wrist to put your hand back in, but you were already picking your phone.

“Ignore it” His voice was muffled as he peppered kisses and nibbles at your neck. 

“I can't, it's Heyoon” You read her text telling you to go meet her at the entrance.

“Always the cockblock” He sighed, making you laugh, remembering how it was always her, the one interrupting you two. 

“I've gotta leave” There was a hint of disappointment in your voice. 

“You know, I could take you home later” His offer made your heart skip a beat, you glanced back at him.

“C'mon, I know you want that ride” And there it was, the devilish grin again while he pulled you by your waist. Your breath hitched.

~ {♡} ~ 

You clutched your staff ID badge as if you were holding a golden ticket, looking around you realized not much has changed since the last time you were here. 

The feeling was good, familiar even, as you walked down the reception of the company, staff and trainees were passing you by in a hurry and as you looked at those hopeful faces couldn’t help but wonder if one of those people belonged to the group you would be assigned for. 

The email didn't say much, actually it was only a notification that you got selected and was about to start in the following month, more details would soon be explained when you started, but as for now you knew you'd be part of a staff team. 

The adorned walls with posters of JYP’s biggest groups caught  your attention, you stopped in front of the Stray Kids one and smiled, memories passing in front of you, their singing practices, their playful banters in their dorm, their burst of laughter filling every room they were in…

Until your eyes landed on Hyunjin, and the sound of laughter gave space for the silence and the distance and then the tears, your heart shrinked and you remembered last saturday, his gaze, his plump lips, his grip… Your heart just shrinked some more. 

“Y/n?” You turned around and saw a tall man standing behind you. Nodding at him, he introduced himself.

“Nice to meet you Joo-wan” You smiled at him.

“Nice to meet you too, y/n. You'll be working with me on the staff team” Joo-wan shook your hand “C'mon, I'll show you around before taking you to meet the group” His smile was warm as he motioned for you to follow him for a little tour of the company. 

As you walked around he introduced you to some other staff members, shared some curiosities about the company, guidelines, your responsibilities, all that stuff. You read the sign up when you reach the last door: dance practice, Joo-wan stopped with his hand on the knob, turning to you and saying the last but maybe more important rule of here: do not date the idols.

Then he opened the door and walked in with you. The boys were chatting, sitting on the floor and some others on the couch while they were taking a break from practicing.

They all turned their heads to your direction. 

“Boys, come on here I want you to meet someone!” They stopped talking and looked at you, a huge smile appearing on their faces. Well, some faces, there was an expression in particular that was quite difficult to read.

“Y/N!” They came to you, Felix and Han stopping at each side and hugging you together, making you laugh, the sunshine twins were really the sweetest. 

“Hi boys” You hugged them back.

“Oh, so you already know each other?” Joo-wan looked surprised at you and them.

“I did my internship here like three years ago, and we met in the halls, I was working in another area at that time” You explained to him, the boys still attached to each side of you.

“Oh that's great y'all are familiar with each other because the group you'll be working with it's them” He smiled and your mouth fell agap, eyes widening. 

“Really?” You were truly surprised, all this time you imagined you'd be assigned to a new group, one that didn't even debut yet. Working with an already successful group as big as SKZ can feel very intimidating. 

Joo-wan and the boy chuckled seeing your surprise, his phone started ringing and he picked it out of his pocket.

“Oh, just give me a minute, I've got to pick this call” He excused himself and went out of the door with his phone in hand, the boys gathered around you.

“Welcome to the fam, y/n!” Felix hugged you tight.

“You're gonna have so much fun!” You heard Han's voice.

“Yeah, you're gonna love it!” Minho reached out and playfully ruffled up your hair and you let out a squeal, shifting away from him. 

“Minhoo, stop it!” You whined, putting your hands on your hair.

“Yeah Minho, don’t do that!” Seungmin intervened, stepping closer to you and fixing your hair.

“Thank you, Minnie” You smiled at him and his lips turned up into a mischievous smile as he ruffled up what he just fixed seconds later, chuckling “Here's it, much better” 

The boys all laughed at you as you wiggled away from him.

“You two stop or I'll ask to switch groups” You whined again and the boys laughed, watching you fix your hair.

“Just arrived and already leaving? Nuh nuh, we can't let you do that” Seungmin said shaking his head.

“Yeah baby, you signed the contract you're stuck with us now. No turning back” Changbin smirked and you rolled your eyes.

“It's like a marriage,” Said Jeongin cheekly.

“Through good and bad or whatever they say” Han chuckled when Felix completed Jeongin's phrase.

“What?” You playfully crossed your arms “I want divorce, then” 

“Not gonna happen sweetheart, should have read between the lines: this is not a 7 day trial, there's no turning back now!” Minho mischievous said.

“Guess I'm stuck…” You shrugged looking up to the ceiling. 

“Without a doubt” Changbin nodded.

“Y'all better behave then!” You crossed your arms, rolling your eyes.

“We…” Chan started, a mischievous spark on his eyes as he look at the boys “...will definitely not do that” 

“I'm not even surprised at this point” You lifted your hands and rubbed your temples. 

“C'mon, you love us” Han threw an arm over your shoulder, hugging you.

“Only on even days” You rolled your eyes and they all laughed. 

“Y/n!” Joo-wan appeared at the door, “Come with me, I'll introduce you to the rest of the team” 

“Okay” You turned back to the boys, quickly glancing at Hyunjin as you said “See you later then” They all waved you goodbye and watched you leave. 

Hyunjin pretended to not see the smirk on Felix's lips as he elbowed him. 

“Let's go back to practice” He said, already heading to turn the music back on.

~ {♡} ~ 

Your first day of work was good, spent most of your day following Joo-wan's steps, the team was amazing and very welcoming to you. From watching their interactions you learned Joo-wan's a good boss, he's hardworking and with a vision for results but also open to the others’ ideas which was nice, not like those “pushy” bosses you met previously in your past jobs. 

Also, applying for the job on JYP, you weren’t delusional to think you wouldn't come across Hyunjin, it was bound to happen sooner or later and you were fine with it.

At least that's what you said to Heyoon when you showed her the job ad. 

Did she believe in you? Of course not! 

To be honest, deep down not even you believed in yourself. The day you got the email announcing you got the job you played a whole fanfic in your head about how you two would meet again in the halls and sparks would fly like a Taylor Swift song and ta-da, just a few days later you'd be texting Heyoon saying you're back together. 

Then, Felix's birthday happened, you hadn't heard from Hyunjin the whole week after. Did he even have your number anymore? Because he didn’t ask for it saturday. 

Did he even remember what happened? Judging by the way he looked at you today, he did. 

“Stop it” You looked at Heyoon when she popped your bubble of thoughts. 

“But I'm not doing anything” You whined, putting your hands down on your lap.

“Puff, you've got that look in your face” Heyoon rolled her eyes. 

“What look?” Your eyes widened. 

“That ‘Hyunjin’ look” You could feel your cheeks burning at the accusation, but tried to sound nonchalant anyway.

“What is that even supposed to mean?”

“You know exactly what it means” She grabbed your wrists and pulled your hands close, looking at them “and stop biting your nails, you're ruining the nail polish”

“Oh, I'll fix it” After seeing your teeth ripped off the tip of your nail polish you jumped out of the couch and went to your bathroom, coming back with the manicure basket and placing it on the coffee table. You picked the color you used previously.

“No, not this color, it's looking boring” She took the little basket from your hands and fished the crimson glass “Use this, much better” She shook it with a grin and put it in your hand.

“I don’t know Yoon, I think it’s a little too much for work, I usually use this one for when I’m going out” You looked at the glass uncertainty.

“Exactly! Perfect for our double date with Tae-joon and Min Kyu” She clapped and you looked at her confused.

“Uh, the text I sent you earlier? Tae wants to meet up tomorrow, and he said his friend asked about you, so…”

“Oh yeah, right. The coffee date” You vaguely remembered her text floating somewhere in the conversation you two were engaging earlier. 

“I was expecting you’d be more excited? He's so cute and has dimples!” Your friend's reaction made you chuckle.

“He is, but don’t you think it's a little weird tho? I mean… Hyunjin's tongue was inside my mouth just minutes after he left” 

“Yeah, but it was because of a silly game and it was just in your mouth because I interrupted because otherwise it would be inside your…” She teased.

“Bestie, shhh. Don't say it!” You felt your cheeks burning as you jumped and covered her mouth, muffling her laugh. 

“And he left before it happened, he had no idea anyway. Plus… It's been like forever since you've been on a proper date, you could use a little distraction…” Heyoon playfully poked your side and you jumped. “Get some d…”

“Heyoon!” You exclaimed and she laughs more.

~ {♡} ~ 

Hyunjin saw you kneeling on the floor, your cheek against the glass of the vending machine while your arm was shoved inside, he chuckled at your visible struggle and decided to walk to you. He stopped just a few steps behind you and crossed his arms, you cursed under your breath, too annoyed at the machine to realize he was there.

You pulled your arm back and smacked the machine to make the can fall, your attempt was unsuccessful. You sighed.

“C'mon, I don’t have any more money left!” You cried out, smacking it again. 

You heard chuckles and turned around, seeing Hyunjin stepping closer and you sighed. 

“Breaking stuff on your first week? Hm, I don’t think Joo-wan will like to hear about that” 

“What do you want?” 

“I just finished practice, thought I'd grab something to drink, but now I can’t because you broke the machine” 

“It was already broken when I arrived!” You complained, crossing your arms in front of your chest. 

“Yeah, right” He smirked and placed a hand on your shoulder, slightly pushing you to the side. 

You watched intently as he kneeled down in front of the machine and shoved his arm inside like you previously did, easily grabbing the Sprite that was stuck. 

He stood up and gave it to you.

“Thanks” You murmured while taking it, your fingers brushing briefly. 

He didn’t show any reaction, neither did you, but deep inside you shivered. Just like him.

You opened the can and took a sip, he watched as you leaned on the wall and grabbed your phone from your backpocket, absentmindedly scrolling. 

“You're unbelievable” He scoffed, crossing his arms.

“Excuse me?” You looked up confused at him.

“One day, you're going all octopus on me, and the other you act as if I don’t exist” His tone gave away his annoyance and the way he rolled his eyes just confirmed it.

“What? You were the one getting all handsy!” You stopped mid way from drinking your soda, side eyeing him. 

He smirked at you, grabbing the can off your hand and taking a long sip. 

You gulped as you watched his adam's apple bobbing. 

“What's so interesting for you to be ignoring me, anyways?” He grabbed your phone from your hand, looking at the screen with curiosity.

He saw you had your calendar open, various notes with work stuff related content written, as he was reading, a notification popped up and he rolled his eyes. It was a text from Min Kyu. 

“Give it back!” You tried to grab your phone back, but he turned his back to you, his fingers quickly typing something. 

“What are you doing? Give it back!” You tried to reach and pick the device from him again, but he wiggled from you and lifted his arm up, holding your phone above his head, laughing as you failed to reach.

“Oh y/n, you're not supposed to be on your phone during work hours, you know?” He shook your phone in front of you, pulling it back when you tried to pick it again.

“Last night was great, wanna meet up again Friday?” Hyunjin mocked, reading the words from Min Kyu's text to you. His gaze met yours as he continued, now reading what he replied as you “No, thanks!” 

“Oh my God, stop it!” Your cheeks were burning from embarrassment, you smacked his chest and he feigned hurt, placing his hand where you hit him. You quickly grabbed your phone back, checking to see what he really did.

“You sent it” You looked back at him surprised, for a moment you thought he was just pretending to annoy you.

“Of course I did, I was even polite, so I don’t know why you are so bothered by it” He scoffed and continued, his voice low now, as he stared at your eyes “Plus… You will be busy with me, so it's not like you will be free anyways”

“With you?” Your heart skipped a beat and you truly hoped he didn’t notice the weakness in your voice or the spark that crossed your eyes.

“Yeah, we got some stuff from the tour to discuss, we got a meeting at the studio after we record some new songs” He shrugged, speaking nonchalantly, grinning when he saw your lips turning down in a disappointment you failed to conceal in time before getting caught.

“It's written on your calendar” His tone now was teasing as he approached you, and you mentally cursed yourself, looking down.

You felt his fingers touch your chin, lifting your face up to look at him, his gaze intense as it met your eyes. 

“You thought it was just us?” Hyunjin grinned, he had a mischievous spark in his eyes as he teased you, his fingers still holding your chin.

“What? No, of course not!” You shook your head in denial and he chuckled. 

“Cute” Your heart jumped as you watched him lean closer, whispering in a secretive way, as if somebody could hear your conversation, although there were only the two of you in the hall “Maybe we could…”

“Get lost!” He shouted and you jolted, heart almost escaping up your throat. 

“What the hell?” Your hand flew to your chest, feeling your rapid heart beat. You were so entranced by him, that you didn’t see when he looked over you, spotting the heads peeking behind the wall meters away from you both.

“No, not you” He shook his head and pointed behind you “These two” 

You turned around and all you saw was a fast glimpse of the brunette and blonde hairs as they pulled back inside. 

Thanks to the sunshine twins, the mood was ruined now and you wouldn't sleep at night thinking about what Hyunjin was about to say.

Your cheeks were burning when you turned back to him and noticed Hyunjin was annoyed as he took another long sip of your soda, he jerked his head for you to look behind you again, there was Joo-wan coming with some papers in hand looking for you. 

“Thanks for the soda!” Hyunjin quickly tapped your shoulder before leaving, lifting his hand and waving the can of Sprite before chugging it as he walked to the other direction.

“Hey, that’s mine!” You screamed at him, taking one step to follow him but being stopped on your track by Joo-wan's hand on your shoulder. You heard Hyunjin's laugh as he passed through the door.

“Y/n, great to see you here. I've got some things to discuss with you…” Joo-wan was agitated as he handed you the papers, speaking fast as he listed all the details you needed to take care of: contact with stylists, location for the promo photoshoots, confirm the special appearances on tv shows, just to say a few.

“...also show the ideas for the boys and see if they want to make any changes and all that” He glanced at you giving a thumbs up “Got it?”

“Yeah yeah, I will talk with them” You nodded, trying to make mental notes from everything he said to you.

“Don't worry, soon enough you will know all those things by heart” He chuckled, giving you a reassuring smile and flexing his arm “Fighting!” 

“Fighting!” You repeated, flexing your arm too. 

“Have you tried this? It says it's supposed to give you an energy boost, they have it in the cafeteria” Joo-wan showed you the little carton on his hand, it said high on caffeine on it and you chuckled, that’s why he was so energetic.

“Oh, I think I should go and try it then” You smiled politely at him as you excused yourself, there was a long day ahead.

~ {♡} ~

It was lunch time which meant the cafeteria was quite crowded when you made your way to the line and grabbed some food. As you walked around looking for a place to sit, a loud shout caught your attention, and you turned to the left to be greeted by the boys.

“Hey new girl, come sit with us!” Changbin shouted and you laughed, making your way to their table. You sat between Chan and Jeongin, Jisung was in front of you on the opposite side with Hyunjin by his side. 

Enjoying your meals together, laughing and chatting with them felt good, just like the old good times you spent together in this same place. The cafeteria may have changed, but luckily your friendship remained the same. 

You and Hyunjin weren’t talking, but the stolen glimpses of each other sure felt like that time too, those cute early stages when you would keep looking at him, trying to get his attention and praying he would ask you out. 

“Hyunee” A girl appeared by his side and you automatically rolled your eyes and didn't see it but he noticed it and smirked. Oh, just like the old times, indeed.

“Hyun, you're meeting me up later to help me practice, right?” The girl had that tone, and it annoyed you even more. 

“Yeah, sure” He might had sounded nonchalantly but he stared directly at you when he replied, clearly with the intention of annoying you.

“He can't help you today” You nonchalantly said, shrugging.

“Excuse me?” She raised an eyebrow looking at you in disbelief. 

“He's busy with the group activities” You replied not even bothering looking at her, still eating your lunch.

“Mhm, maybe we could meet up…” She rolled her eyes at you and placed her hand on Hyunjin's arm. 

It looked like a claw squeezing the flesh and your grip on the hashi got tighter.

“Beloved? I think you didn't hear me right, so I will say it again, he's very busy, which means he has no time, okay?” Your voice was sweet, calm even, such a contrast to how you were feeling inside when you saw she wouldn’t let go of his arm.

“Plus, Jyp didn't contract dance instructors for trainees to bother idols like this, did you have any problem with choreography? Ask for their help and work harder” 

The boys looked at you in awe, including Hyunjin - who was smirking the whole time - clearly enjoying the situation, you couldn’t help it, the words were slipping off your mouth as if they had come to life. 

It wasn't jealousy. Of course not.

You’d intervene if it was with any of the boys, it was just basic etiquette, it just happened to be with Hyunjin. It's insane how it always happens to be him. 

If stares could kill, you'd fall drop dead right there. 

“Chae-hee, you're a trainee part of LuaX, right? We weren’t introduced yet, I'm y/n and I'm the…” You kept your sweet persona, even feigning a smile at her.

“Our leader” Chan said giggling at the same time you said you were their staff. 

“You… know who I am?” Chae-hee's eyes were widened in surprise, and you wanted to laugh at how her aura changed so suddenly. 

“Who doesn't?” Seungmin scoffed and Minho nodded, chuckling, he had a point. 

Chae-hee was known in the halls not only for her beauty, but also for her demeanor. She's new to the agency, just joined as a trainee at the end of last year, but already has two strikes under her name. 

“Oh sweetheart, of course I do. What type of staff would I be if I didn’t?” That was a lie, you only knew who she was because you recognized her from the pictures and tea spilled to you by other staff people. 

Honestly, it was none of your business what she’s been up to. Until now…

You looked around before leaning in, as if you were about to share a secret, and you kind of were.

“I don’t even know if I should be telling you this but you've been walking on thin ice lately” Your gaze went to her hand on his arm then back at her “I think you don’t wanna get caught on the same drama again, do you?” 

She pulled her hand off, shaking her head at you. Hyunjin and the boys quietly chuckled looking at each other, it was never so easy to get rid of Chae-hee like it was now. 

“Yeah, I thought so” You leaned back on your chair, smiling at her “This life can be quite difficult, specially for someone who haven’t debuted yet” 

Chae-hee looked down, her expression was quite hard to read, but at least she let go of his arm, so you took that as a good sign. Right? 

But then a spark crossed her eyes and she leaned in, whispering something in his ear, and you gripped the hashi again as you watched him nodding. She stood up again and looked at you with a smirk. 

“Well, guess I'm going. See you around, y/n, boys” She still had that teasing smirk as she passed you and you rolled your eyes.

“What annoying bitch” You murmured under your breath and Chan giggled and murmured he agreed.

“Wow new girl, the way you protected your man was hot” Changbin's comment made you choke on your water. 

“Oh my God, no no, he's not…” Your cheeks were burning and you placed your glass back down. 

“It didn’t see like it when you were making out at the party” Seungmin teased and the boys chuckled.

“That was just a silly game, we were drunk. Plus, Changbin kissed Chaeryeong and it doesn't mean they are dating” 

“This way you hurt my feelings” Hyunjin chuckled and you glanced at him and he stopped.

“Uh, actually we are” Changbin confessed shyly and you turned back to look at him, your mouth falling agap and you squealed.

“Okay, you gotta tell me everything!” Your enthusiasm made the boys chuckle, they missed your spontaneous reactions. Yeah, it felt good to be back. 

~ {♡} ~ 

Arriving in the agency, your hands were full as you jiggled the coffee cups you brought for the boys: a little treat for their hard work. It had been a month since you came back and things were great, well, almost everything.

New house? Beautiful.

Work? Amazing. 

Your love life? Thanks to Hyunjin, it went from 5 to 0 really quick.

You and Min Kyu were still in touch but he was super busy with work and to top that, he would be leaving for a couple days for a work trip, so you barely talked. But if you were being honest, it's not like you really cared.

Yeah, you knew this was ‘wrong’, you were tired of hearing Heyoon go off about how cute you'd look together, how Hyunjin belonged to the past, how you needed to be a strong independent woman who didn't need a man, bla bla bla, but the heart wants what the heart wants, and yours only wanted him. 

As for him, he was very aware of your feelings, ever since day one, damn ever since you laid your eyes on that cute boy who held the door for you when you arrived at the agency for the first time. He wanted you too, but he was younger and full of hormones, he was just a boy, thinking with his other head, and there were also the bans, he later would learn wasn't as black and white as it seemed, and the pressure from his building career…

You know the saying: what is a drop on a glass already full of water?

Well, in Hyunjin's perspective, it was all it took for the glass to overflow. 

‘Maybe we should stop this’, was what you told him that night, ‘Yeah, maybe we should', was his reply, and just like that, there was no you and Hyunjin anymore. You wouldn’t lie, the thought of him wanting to end things with you crossed your mind more times than you'd like to admit, and you'd cry at night and even avoid him the next day, as if this silly act would prevent you from hearing the words coming out of his mouth. 

Why were you the one saying it then? You didn't know for sure, you were stressed, drunk, and most importantly you thought he would tell you to go to sleep, tomorrow would be a new day. It's just that he didn’t, he was acting weird for days, you felt it even from the way he kissed you, something was off, but then he didn’t even ask you why, didn't even try to change your mind, he only gave you one more kiss, a “goodbye” one before he watched you go back inside your house. 

That kiss was good, unlike that other one, it gave you hope you'd wake the next day to a text from him and you’d spend the day together and this conversation never happened. But unfortunately, you woke to a thousand messages from Heyoon, telling you that he got back to the party, shortly after he left you home. 

~ {♡} ~ 

Back to the present, everyday you sacrificed those 5 more minutes of sleep to put on your makeup and get all dolled up for work, looked for excuses to talk to him or just be around him, tried to catch his attention, truly oblivious to the sunshine twins keeping up with you two like their personal kdrama.

One day during practice, Han even had the audacity to appear with some candies, handing them to Felix as he sat on the couch, both watching intently as Hyunjin was teasing you about what he was planning to do on tour:

“For real, y/n. Just imagine it, me walking in the crowd during Get Lit, stays will go crazy!” He was gesturing with his hands, his eyes sparkling and he could clearly picture the image on his head, and it wasn't of the stays going crazy, no no, it was you with fire coming from your eyes.

“Yeah, they will and that's exactly the problem!” You rolled your eyes and he chuckled softly. 

“I don’t see how giving the fans the best day of their lives could be a problem” He chuckled again.

“You know exactly what I'm talking about” You stared at him, then had a realization as he was slightly pulling his t-shirt up, a peak of his abs showing. 

“Oh my God, that's why you are hitting the gym lately, to let people feel you up!” Your eyes widened and he smirked, taking a few steps to close the distance between you, his piercing eyes locked with yours.

“Don't be jealous, y/nnie. I let you feel me up too…” His voice was low, his hands still on the hem of his t-shirt, that devilish grin appearing on his plump lips and he leaned in. 

“I'll let you feel everything” He whispered in your ear, making your cheeks burn and a shiver ran down your body.

“Oh, he's sexy” Felix murmured, eating his candy, his eyes fixated on you and Hyunjin, Han nodded, his cheeks fluffy from his mouth full of candy. Neither you or Hyunjin noticed them watching you.

Teasing you, that seemed to be Hyunjin's favorite hobby after painting, annoying you with his comments, blocking your way as you’d walk around, stealing your drinks and food, and even sending you kisses while practicing. He was having fun, especially when he could get you all flustered. 

~ {♡} ~ 

“Protein cookies n cream shake for you” You handed Changbin his beverage, he happily thanked you. 

“A strawberry frappuccino for you…” You handed Felix his and his face lighted up as he took a sip. 

“And an iced americano for you” You were about to hand Hyunjin his, when you saw he already had a cup on his hand. “Oh, you already got one” He noticed your lips slightly turning down and looked around.

“Hey Wook, you like vanilla latte?” He called the other staff who was nearby.

“Yeah, why?” Wook replied, coming closer to him.

“Here, for you” Hyunjin handed him the cup he has holding and picked yours from your hand “And this one is mine” 

“Hmm, much better, thanks y/nnie” He said after taking a sip and for a moment you wondered why he had a drink he didn’t like. 

Maybe he was in a hurry and ordered it wrong. Maybe the waiter was too busy and got it wrong. Or… Chae-hee.

Her name was written in the cup when Wook drank. You scoffed, after your first and much luckily only encounter, she had been quiet, out of sight out of mind, at least that's what you thought, but truth is that Chae-hee has been subtly around, in the coffees Hyunjin always pass up to someone at the reception, hanging on the agency at evening when everyone was gone but the boys, and she would “forget” something behind and needed to come get back. 

Neither Hyunjin or the boys told you about those things, it was just a normal day in their lives at this point, each experienced it too at some moment or better saying moments, the girls were usually trainees or newly idols and if they were lucky, they would get their way with them. He wouldn’t tell you, but despite being a bitch, Chae-hee was his type so yes he was attracted to her, and yes he was thinking about having his fun with her and he would, if he didn’t see you at the boys’ party that day. 

“What's wrong?” Hyunjin asked, nudging you after he plopped down by your side on the couch.

“Nothing, why?” The boys were all sprawling out on the floor, panting as they just finished practicing, you glanced at him, sweaty and hot in his gray sweatpants, you looked away.

“You are acting weird today, quiet even. It's so unlike you, what's worrying that pretty little head of yours?” He looked at you, leaning closer and your heart skipped a beat.

“Did I do something?” Ironically, Hyunjin didn’t have that teasing tone this time.

“What? No, of course not” You brushed off, shrugging and looking away.

He didn’t do anything and that's exactly what the problem was.

“I just had a hard time sleeping tonight, that’s all” You sighed. 

“Couldn’t stop thinking about me, I see” He chuckled lightly.

“You wish!” You scoffed. Obviously he was right, you were watching vídeos of him before bed, but he didn’t need to know that. 

“I know. You don’t fool me, doll” His hand landed on your thigh casually, and you turned to him again. Your heart skipped a beat.

“So, what was it, fanfics, fancams, TikToks?” His fingertips drummed on your thigh and his eyes sparkled “Thirsty TikToks, maybe?” Hyunjin squeezed your thigh and you jolted, flustering hard and he chuckled, letting go of the flesh and giving it gentle taps. 

“It was!” Hyunjin grinned and he leaned even closer.

“Ohh y/nnie, you know you don’t need these things, I can take care of it for you. You know?” His fingers dangerously slidding to your inner thigh as he whispered “All you have to do is ask nicely”  

Your skin tingled under his touch and you were glad you chose pants instead of a skirt today, that way there was zero risk of him or anyone see the damp in your panties. Sighing under your breath, you placed your hand over his, stopping his moves.

“No, it wasn't” You murmured through gritted teeth and he chuckled, you turned away again. 

“Hey lovebirds, sucking face's only after work. Let's keep it professional, shall we?” Minho shouted at you two, and all the boys laughed, Hyunjin included. You flipped Minho off. 

“Alright, boys. Break is over, let’s start again” Chan stood up and the boys whined.

“I will get back to practice now, try not to miss me much” He playfully smacked your thigh and got up, running back to the center of the room to reunite with the boys.

~ {♡} ~

“Na-yeon isn't a good dancer, she keeps messing the routine up, Hong-jo” Chae-hee kept playing with the straw of her finished juice, sitting on the chair in front of the main staff responsible for LuaX. 

“She did pretty well at last’s week showcase” Hong-jo pushed Chae-hee's feet off her table.

“Hunf, that’s only because she knew you'd be watching, she isn't like this normally” Chae-hee leaned in, resting her face on her hands “I think you should switch our positions, let me take the center” 

“Chae-hee…” 

“Please, please, Hong-jo. At least think about it” She put her hands together as she pleaded.

“Fine” Hong-jo sighed “Now, excuse me. I need to finish some working and you need to record with the girls” The staff tapped her on the shoulder, motioning for the girl to get off of her chair.

“Thank you, Hong-jo” Chae-hee got up in a jump and happily exited the staff's office. 

“Hey lady, don’t go there” A female voice surprised Chae-hee as she touched the restroom's door knob, she turned around with curiosity.

“The door knob is broken, you could end up stuck” The woman stopped in front of the door, pinning a warning sign. 

“Oh, I will go for another one then, thank you” The woman smiled at Chae-hee and walked away. 

Chae-hee was looking around at the posters hanging at wall, she stopped in front of the Stray Kids one, smirking while she admired Hyunjin. That was when she heard your voice from another room. 

What a coincidence, you were complaining to someone that you should slow down on the water, because now you had to go to the restroom every 10 minutes and you were afraid you'd have to leave in the middle of an important meeting that was just about to start.

An idea popped in her mind and she smirked. 

Ever since you met, everything has changed and Chae-hee noticed it, but that was okay, she wasn't stressing over it, nobody ever said No to her before, and she wouldn’t let this be the first time, but as much as she hated to admit, you were right and she had to be careful. Careful and have patience. 

Quickly, Chae-hee pulled the sign off and ran, turning the left just in time before you opened the door and stepped into the empty hall. You knocked on the door and were glad it was empty, you didn't think you’d make it until you reached the other restroom.

You got in and locked the door. Chae-hee waited a bit before going back and pinning the warning up and running away again. 

After finishing, you washed your hands and went to unlock the door, it made a muffled - tique - sound and didn't open. You tried again, nothing.

Weird, you thought to yourself, trying once more, pulling the door knob with a little force. Another tique sound, this time louder. 

You held the handle as it fell off from the door. Trying to put it back, you realized it didn't attach, oh shit.

Grabbing your phone from your backpocket, you quickly typed a message to Joo-wan, letting him know that you were stuck. You frowned when you got the notification: your message couldn’t be delivered, you sighed, trying Woo’s number, same, the group chat, nothing.

You tried calling, but it failed too. Looking down at your phone, the tiny sign of out of service was up on the screen. 

“Is there anybody here?” You screamed three times, but didn't get any response. 

There wasn't, it was morning, time of the day most of the meetings happened, which meant the staff people were in the designated rooms that of course had to be far away from where you were. 

Tried using your phone again, still out of service. The notification of the meeting popped up on the screen and you wanted to cry, wasn't just important because it was about the tour, but also you were going to present yours and the boys ideas, you needed to get out.

“Woah, watch out!” Na-yeon held a very giggly Chae-hee who stumbled on her while running.

“Na-yeon!” Chae-hee's eyes widened “What were you doing here?”

“I was about to go to the restroom and grab some water, why?” Na-yeon stared at her with curiosity. 

“Don't go there, the door's broken. Come on, let’s go to the cafeteria, I will buy you a juice” Chae-hee turned Na-yeon around and threw her arm around her shoulder, squeezing her as they walked together. 

“Oh, thanks but you really don’t need to” Na-yeon shook her head, she was confused, Chae-hee never treated her with anything, wasn’t even nice to her to be honest. 

“I insist “Chae-hee grip on her arm got slightly tighter, she had a grin on her lips “You did so well during the showcase, you'll be a star Na-yeon” 

“You thought so? Thank you, Chae-hee” Na-yeon smiled with sincerity, truly believing the older words.

“Of course, you were amazing!” And just like that, Chae-hee guided her away from the hall, and especially: away from a desperate and locked you. 

~ {♡} ~

Hyunjin was walking in circles at this point, in almost two months working there, it was the first time you didn't show up for a meeting. Thinking about it, he just realized he didn’t see you at all today.

Damn, he was missing you.

He walked around, discreetly sneaking up to the staff's office, practice rooms, cafeteria and no sight of you. The strangest part was that today was important, and it wasn't like you to miss meetings. 

“Can you stop?” Hyunjin stopped shaking his leg when Felix asked.

“Sorry” And Felix laughed, touching his own head.

“Much better, I was feeling like you were trying to make my brain fall off” He chuckled, his eyes still closed as he kept lying on Hyunjin's lap.

“Don't worry, she’s fine” Felix smirked.

“I am not worried” Hyunjin scoffed “I just find it strange, she never misses work” 

“Maybe she was busy” Felix said nonchalantly, and Hyunjin scoffed again.

“Too busy to even stop a little and come see us?” Hyunjin was quick, he almost said ‘me’ instead of ‘us’, but of course Felix knew what he meant, and chuckled.

“Yeah, right, she would never forget us like that” And Hyunjin rolled his eyes.

“Hmm, yesterday she mentioned something about not feeling so well, maybe she took the day off” Felix opened his eyes and smirked teasing his friend “Maybe we could stop by her place later, pay her a visit” 

Hyunjin noded absentmindedly, maybe Felix was right, you probably weren’t feeling too well and took a day off to rest. 

“Awn, look at him missing his girlfriend, how cute” Felix lifted his hand and pinched Hyunjin's cheek.

“Stop it” Hyunjin slapped his hand away, but his cheeks turned slightly pink from the blonde's comment. 

Meanwhile, you were still stuck. Doing your best to stay calm, you kept trying to text and call your contacts, to shout in hope someone would be passing by, but it’s been 3 hours now, and you were getting scared, it was not possible the same agency with halls that are always so full of people, suddenly be so empty today.

People were passing, but very few and they were all busy speaking with their headphones. 

You were sitting on the floor, hugging your knees, some tears rolled down your face. 

“I am stuck, somebody help, please” You sighed and then you heard some steps, you got up and started smacking the door to try to catch their attention.

But just like it appeared, the footsteps were gone, you rested your forehead against the door. Maybe you imagined it.

Chae-hee stepped away, covering her mouth to prevent her giggles to escape, she kept coming every now and then, having fun as she heard your calls for help. She was going to let you out, she wasn't mean, she just needed for you to mess up your work and as a bonus, stay away from Hyunjin too. 

She grinned, clapping her hands. It was a win/win situation for her. 

~{♡}~

5 and half an hour in, you picked a candy you kept in your pocket, your phone battery was getting low and it was scaring you more. 

You were rolling the wrapping paper around your fingers, an attempt to calm you down when you heard some whistling and you stood up again. 

Ice cream, it was his whistle. He was here.

“Hyunjin?” You screamed, crossing your fingers it was him and he would hear you.

“Y/n?” He stopped on track, looking around.

“Hyunjin, oh my God, it's really you!” You started crying and he saw the warning on the door.

“Y/n, calm down. What's happening?” He tried to sooth you, thinking for a way to get you out.

“The door's knob came out and won't come back, I've been stuck here all day, help me, please” You cried out, Hyunjin tried to open it from the outside, but it only made a click sound and nothing, you cried again.

“Okay, calm down, I will get you out” He ran his hands through his hair “Step back”

“Okay” You took a few steps back, nervously fidgeting the hem of your shirt.

Hyunjin turned the knob again, twisting it a few times before pushing the door and turning again with force, seeing it didn't work, he took a step back and kicked the door with all his strenght. 

One, two times and then the door was open. 

“Hyunjin!” All it took was just a few long strides and you threw yourself on him, wrapping your arms around his neck and holding him tight. 

“Shh, I'm here, everything's okay now” He soothed you, running his hand through your hair, holding you tight too, until your breathing calmed down.

“Why did you get in here? Didn't you read the sign?” He asked when he broke the embrace, but kept holding you by your shoulders.

“What sign? There was nothing when I came here” You wipped the tears away and turned to look at the door, seeing the warning sign that clearly wasn't there before.

“That's so weird, I don’t remember seeing this before” You tried to remember. Were you in such a hurry to use the toilette that you didn’t pay attention?

Well, you were a little distracted, so wouldn’t be strange if that was what happened. 

“Hm, maybe you slow down a little, you are working too hard” You nodded and he grabbed your wrist “Now c'mon, let’s get out of here”

“Oh wait, just a minute!” You subtly pulled your hand back and stepped in front of the mirror. 

Your eye mascara was messed up from crying and your make up was a little smudged, so you grabbed some tissues. Hyunjin crossed his arm, watching as you fixed it.

“Alright, now we can go” You turned to him when you finished.

“You're cute” He chuckled and held his hand out for you and you took it, shaking your head as you two went to the other room to pick your purse and leave. 

It felt natural. It felt good.

Chae-hee just finished her practice and was going to free you, when she saw you and Hyunjin walking at the end of the hall. He was nudging you and you both were laughing, Chae-hee groaned, that wasn't suppose to happen. 

Thinking quickly, she picked up her phone and snapped a picture. She smirked, looking at the screen.

“What are you doing?” Na-yeon stopped by her side. 

“Oh Na-yeon, isn't it obvious? I'm gathering proof” The younger looked at her with confusion and Chae-hee rolled her eyes.

“No dating in the workplace?”

“Ohh, no dating idols rule!” Na-yeon exclaimed and then murmured giggling “This one you know too well”

“What did you say?” Chae-hee snapped and Na-yeon shook her head, stopping.

“Nothing, nothing” The older side eyed her, scoffing. 

“But, who do you think are dating?” 

“Hyunjin and y/n, haven’t you just seem them?” Her face twisted in annoyance, you two were gone.

“Yeah and?” Na-yeon questioned her “They didn't see to be doing anything, but talk” 

“Oh my God, Na-yeon! Stop being so naive!” Chae-hee rubbed her temples. 

“It's obvious something’s going on, he was wrapped around my finger and now he changed after this girl came around”

If you asked Na-yeon or anyone from their circle, they would tell you a different story, but Chae-hee was mad and Na-yeon thought it would be better no disagree with her fanfic now. 

“She's his staff, she needs to talk to him. I’m sure it’s nothing” The brunette lightly rubbed the other's arm, trying to sooth.

“Hmm, should I go talk with Chan or straight to Joo-wan?” Chae-hee was thinking out loud, tapping the tip of her phone on her chin.

“Or maybe you could just leave it?” Na-yeon suggested and Chae-hee rolled her eyes.

“Na-yeon, at which side are you?” 

“Yours, of course” Na-yeon replied without even thinking “And that's why I'm telling you to let it go, I don’t want you to get in trouble” 

“Hmm, okay” Was all Chae-hee said. 

She wouldn’t leave it aside.

~ {♡} ~

“Are we close yet?” You turned to Hyunjin with curiosity.

“Almost there” He chuckled, taking a turn on the road. It was the second time you asked.

You opened the Mc Donalds bag that you were holding and picked some french fries and ate them. 

“I’m serious, we are almost there” Hyunjin chuckled when he side glanced you and saw you enjoying your fries.

“Ugh, I’m starving” You admitted and he chuckled again.

“Gimme some too” He opened his mouth and you giggled.

“Here” You took some fries and fed him, your eyes widened when he unnecessarily wrapped his lips around your fingertips, you quickly pulled your hand, flustering. 

“Uh, enough fries. We can eat more when we arrive” You said shyly and he chuckled. 

You spent the rest of the drive in silence, it felt awkward for you, but luckily it lasted just about 10 minutes until he stopped in a secluded spot. You recognized the place right away, Seokchon Park.

“Let’s sit outside” He gently tapped your thigh, his hand felt warm against your skin. 

“Hm, sit outside while wearing a skirt? I don’t think it’s a good idea” You’d regret your clothing choice today, but he just touched your thigh so you could say it was the right option.

“It's okay, there's only us here. Nobody's gonna see anything” He shrugged. 

“That's just one of the problems” You shook your head and he got it right away.

“C’mon doll, we can't properly see the stars from here. Let's go outside” He nudged your side and grinned, that grin that could convince you to do anything he wanted. 

“Fine” You sighed and his grin got wider, but then you pointed a finger at him “But no funny business!” 

“Okay, no funny business” He grinned and got out of the car, followed by you.

He helped you climb on the car hood, and you sat by his side, handing him his burger and grabbing yours. You listened intently as Hyunjin told you about the meeting and his day, as you two ate, he assured you he and the boys talked about your ideas and Joo-wan was excited to bring them to life, and it made you smile a little, you were still disappointed you couldn’t be there with them.

Hyunjin and you finished eating and were enjoying the silence, drinking your milk-shake and looking at the stars. You felt chills when you glanced at him while he wasn't looking, he looked so pretty under the moonlight.

You sighed and he looked at you, making you quickly turn away and he quietly chuckled. He observed you as you finished your milk-shake, still looking anywhere but him.

He slowly scooted closer and you kept acting unbothered, until his knee was touching yours, he quietly chuckled, finding your attempt to ignore him endearing. His hand rested on your exposed thigh, fingertips tracing lazy patterns on your skin, near your knee.

You quickly glanced down and stood still, but your skin was tingling. His hand slid further up a little, his gaze locked on you, watching intently as you kept looking away and bit the straw.

Hyunjin scooted closer, as if it was that even possible, his body almost pressing against yours, fingertips dangerously coming closer to the hem of your skirt and you sighed. 

“You didn't thank me for saving you” His voice was low, his eyes still on you.

“Of course I did!” You put your cup down and looked at him.

“Uh uh, I mean a proper thank you” He shook his head, his movements stopped but his hand kept on your thigh.

“That would be?” You raised an eyebrow, and he turned his face, poking his cheek with a mischievous smile.

Your heart could explode from his cuteness, but you tried to act nonchalantly as you leaned closer and kissed his cheek.

“Good, now?” You asked when you pulled back.

“Nuh nuh, more” He shook his head, and you chuckled slightly.

“More?” 

“Uhumm” He nodded, his eyes were closed and that mischievous smile was still there.

You leaned in, kissing his cheek again, and again and again as he kept saying “more”, until he started to slowly turn his head and when you realized, he was capturing your lips with his, cupping your face and you didn't try to pull back, no, instead you kissed him back, giving him sweet little kisses until you felt his tongue on your bottom lip and then entering in your mouth. 

Smiling, you felt his thumb caressing your cheek, his tongue slowly touching yours as your lips moved in sync. He tasted sweet, like strawberry, and your heart was beating so fast, you could swear he was listening. 

The minutes were going by, you whining every time he would part from you for breathing, chasing his lips again, you didn't need air, you needed him. His kisses were so good, you'd kiss him forever if he'd let you, so he would smile and give you small pecks before starting to kiss you again, loving how you craved more of him.

His hand slowly slid down from your cheek to your neck, until it reached its final destination: he lightly squeezed your breast and the soft sound that escaped your lips just pushed him to do it again, but squeezing a little harder now. Hyunjin's lips started making a trail of kisses to your jaw and you tilted your head slightly, giving him a better access to your neck, your skin was tingling as he started nibbling the sensitive spot. 

“Jinnie…” 

“Hm?” He hummed, lips still attached to your neck, alternating between kissing and nibbling. 

“We can't do it here…” You sighed, he was pulling the collar of your shirt down, and you knew he was about to mark you.

“Hmm, yeah… You're right” He fixed your shirt and hopped off the car. You looked at him with surprise, was he really giving up so easily?

Of course not. 

“Let’s get back inside” He held his hand out for you and helped you get down.

“Backseat, lady” You giggled when you felt his hands on your shoulder, turning you and gently guiding you to the second door, when you tried to open the passenger's one. 

“We aren’t doing anything tho…” You warned him, sliding on the seat, quickly followed by him “No funny business, remember?” 

“Right, I'm not doing anything” Hyunjin words didn't match his actions, as he held your waist and wasted no time in swiftly pulling you up on his lap. 

“Hyunjin!” You squealed in surprise and he tilted his head.

“Yeah, say my name again” He closed his eyes and smirked.

“Stop it!” You smacked his arm and he chuckled, opening his eyes and staring at yours, but then his laughing stopped, his gaze getting darker as he leaned closer.

“Don't worry, we won’t do anything. I just wanna play with it a little, and you'll let me, right?” His hands found their way on your butt, he grabbed the flesh through the fabric of your skirt, pulling you closer to him and you sighed, nodding. 

“Good girl” You clenched around nothing when you heard him saying that, his hands going to the hem of your shirt and getting under the fabric.

Feeling the warmth of your skin under his palms made him hum in satisfaction, and you regretted choosing simple cotton panties today. But it’s not like you imagined Hyunjin would be playing with the waistband of it on a random tuesday, better saying, you did, more times you'd like to admit, you just didn't think today would be the day. 

Well, at least that was okay, Hyunjin liked it when you’d wear them, ‘feels more spontaneous' like this. 

He made another trail of kisses from your jaw up to your lips, kissing you slowly as his fingers hooked on the waistband, playing with it. 

“Feel it? How much I missed you?” He groaned as he pressed his bulge on you, and you saw stars when your hips involuntarily rocked against it.

“Hmm, I'm guessing you missed me too?” He whispered and you nodded slightly.

“Let’s see how much you missed me…” And there it was, that devilish grin on his lips as his hand went to the front of your panties, fingertips brushing against your middle.

His free hand went back to pull the collar of your shirt and he darted his tongue out, slowly licking before starting sucking your skin, he felt his fingers getting wet through the fabric and Hyunjin's hum of satisfaction was easily the prettiest sound you've ever heard, better saying, the second, first was when he moaned your name. 

You shivered, letting your own hands roam over his shoulders and chest, quietly sighing and tugging his t-shirt when you felt him pressing his fingers against your panties, rubbing your pussy through the fabric. You buried your face on his shoulder, your hips moving against his fingers, you whined in annoyance.

“Is this annoying you, doll?” He teased you, grinning after giving you a small love bite that made you moan.

“Getting on the way?” And you nodded slightly, humming.

“Don't worry, Jinnie got you” He cooed and then pushed it to the side, his fingers now freely feeling you, getting soaked with your arousal.

So wet and warm. He groaned, imagining how good it would feel on his cock, and it twitched inside his boxer. 

“Is that better?” He teased, hearing your soft muffled sounds, his fingers lazily tracing figure 8's on your clit, you kissed his shoulder, nodding.

Your hand slid under his t-shirt and his breath hitched when your nails lightly scratched his abs, his fingers increasing the pace on your bundle of nerves. You leaned in and started kissing his neck.

“Wanna take care of you, too” You murmured against his skin and your hand lightly palmed his outline and he took a deep breath.

“You… don’t need to” Hyunjin whispered, deep down wishing you wouldn't listen to him. 

“Oh, but I do…” You whispered in his ear “I wanna play with it too” You cooed and bit his neck very lightly, careful because you couldn’t mark him for obvious reasons. 

He groaned, twitching under your palm and you smirked, giving it a light squeeze. Dark eyes watching intently as you took your hand to your lips and delicately licked it before slid under his sweatpants and boxers, you sighed, wishing you were somewhere else, your moves were restricted, there was so much you wanted to do to him, to kiss him, explore him, to show how much you loved him…

Hyunjin could sense your frustration and deep down it made him happy, he always loved how you’d be all over him, as if you couldn’t get enough of him. He knew he should wait, make it special and all, but you were looking so cute, sitting there under the stars and the pretty full moon, he couldn’t help it, he needed to kiss you, and once he did, he couldn’t stop too.

Eyes closed, lips brushing against each other’s, turning into passionate kisses and soon enough you both were lost into your own little world, the soft sounds filling the small space getting louder as your hand dragged up and down his length, pace in sync with his digits pressing and tracing figures in your clit. 

“Are you close?” You rested your forehead against his, eyes still closed as you whispered, breath hitching as you were rocking your hips against his fingers, feeling your climax building.

“Mhmm yeah, keep going” He groaned, hips bucking up, he was tensing up as he gripped tighter on your waist and fingers going faster.

You held tight into him as you came, his name slipping off your lips in a cry, head resting again on his shoulder, you kissed his neck, just a few more strokes and he was moaning your name as his warm release was slid down your fingers, you smiled against his skin, he held you tight too, pulling you closer and you stayed like that for a while, feeling each other’s heart beat as you calmed down. 

~ {♡} ~ 

Hyunjin drove you back home, you took a nice and warm shower, changed into new pajamas, grabbed Jiniret and slid under the covers, you were almost sleeping when your phone buzzed with the notification of a new message:

Jagiya: just got back. sleep well 😘 

Your heart jumped, he still had your number saved. You smiled, texting him and putting your phone back on the nightstand.

Drifting to sleep cuddling Jiniret, you had a good night of sleep after a long time.

Next day at the agency the stress started early in the practice room.

“Uh Chae-hee, I don’t understand what you want me to see?” Chan crossed his arms in front of his body and looked at her. 

“Here Chan, how can you not see it?” Chae-hee pointed at the screen, the picture she took of you and Hyunjin.

Had spent most of the night working with 3racha, Chan's patience was starting to wear thin for having to deal with whatever silly drama the girl was trying to start.

“Yeah, y/n and Hyunjin walking together, so?” 

“Don't you think they are too close to each other?” Chae-hee asked whispering “I mean, I was paying attention and they seem too close around the agency”

“Ah, Chae-hee, seriously?” Chan laughed “This is the ‘important’ thing you needed to talk to me about?” 

“Yeah, because…” She started, but Chan motioned for her to stop, shaking his head.

Chan threw his arm over Na-yeon and the younger blushed, taking by surprise when he side hugged her. Chae-hee’s eyes widened. 

“Does it look like Na-yeon and I are dating?” He asked her and she shook her head. 

“Good, but let’s check again, just to make sure, okay?” He kept his arm over Na-yeon and turned them to the opposite direction, asking Minho the same question.

“What? No, what is this about?” Minho chuckled and then completed “We all know that I’m Na-yeon’s type, if she was about to date anyone from here, this would be me” He smirked and she blushed harder. 

Chan chuckled, his arm leaving Na-yeon's figure and he turned back to Chae-hee. 

“See? If that was the case, not only y/n would be dating all of us, but we also would be caught into a crazy net of love affairs” He shrugged.

“Heyy, good morning everyone” You entered the room followed by Hyunjin and Jeongin, Chae-hee gritted her teeth.

As your usual routine, you were handing them their coffees.

“I asked for them to slow down the caffeine today, because I heard you Mr. have been sleeping badly lately” You handed Chan his coffee. 

“That's not fair, why only Hyunjin's has a heart on his?” Changbin whined “Y/nnie, are you playing favorites? I thought I was your bias” 

Chae-hee glanced from you to Hyunjin and then Chan, who was just laughing with the boys. 

“Binnie, gotta start exercising your brain too” Seungmin approached Changbin and turned his beverage around, showing the heart drawn on the cup. 

“Ops, my bad” Changbin's cheeks turned red, making everyone laugh.

“See? I don’t have favorites, I love you all the same” You giggled “Now, I think you owe me a chocolate frappuccino as an apology” 

“Oh girls, I'm sorry I didn’t know you'd be here, I'd bring you coffee too” You said to Chae-hee and Na-yeon.

“It's okay, there's no need to” Na-yeon smiled with sincerity to you. She liked you, never believing the stuff Chae-hee said about you, it was pretty clear to her that her colleague was just jealous.

“Here, to make your day sweet” You smiled at them, giving each a candy you picked from your purse. 

They thanked you, Na-yeon smiling and happy, contrary to Chae-hee murmuring and annoyed. 

You wouldn't lie, you weren’t pleased to see her there either, but you'd keep your distance and hopefully Hyunjin would too and everything was going to be fine. 

“Well, we should be going. C'mon Na-yeon” Chae-hee pulled Na-yeon by her arm and you had the impression the girl trembled slightly.

~ {♡} ~

“I'm glad you're coming on tour with us” Hyunjin leaned on your kitchen's island, watching your back as you worked on the oven, the delicious aroma of the treat you're making filling the air. 

“Me too, I’ve never traveled like this before, this will be fun” You replied, grabbing the pan and turning around to face him.

“Here is it!” You smiled, placing the pan on top of the counter and Hyunjin's mouth watered.

“Finally!” He grabbed the spoon he had separated by his side and was going to take some of the cream when you held his wrist. 

“Wait, wait. It’s too hot, you're gonna burn your tongue” You warned him, there was strings of foggy coming up from inside the pan.

“Oh, c'mon” He pouted, letting go of his spoon and you chuckled. He was so cute.

Heyoon was working late today, so you invited him over. The boys didn't know he was there, both agreeing to keep it just between the two of you, Hyunjin lied to them he was going to a painting class. 

They seemed to believe him, except maybe for Felix, who told him to be careful when painting the insides and giggled. That little menace, he was spending too much time with Seungmin.

You looked at him, still in his practice clothes, fluffy hair contorning his pretty face and the cutest pout ever. 

“Ughh, you're so cute, I could just eat you!” You leaned up on the counter, and your hands flew to his cheeks, squeezing them a little hard in your aggressive affection moment.

Hyunjin groaned and cupped your face, pulling up, giving you a quick peck on your lips before nibbling the bottom one, making you squeal.

“Hey, what are you doing? I said I’m the one eating!” You protested, just realizing he was pulling you up over the counter when you felt his hands on your waist, your body dragging against the cold marble, butt up in the air. 

“Not if I eat you up first” He murmured against your lips before giving you more kiss, then helped you get on your knees and then let your legs slid off, now properly sitting on the counter. 

“You're crazy, you know that?” You chuckled, your arms flew over his shoulders, pulling him closer after he parted your legs, making room for him to stand between them. 

Hyunjin chuckled and shook his head, his hands found their way on your hips, pulling you closer to him, lips brushing against yours. You closed your eyes, relishing the feeling of his soft lips, giving him sweet little kisses and nuzzling your noses together making him chuckle. 

“C'mon, let’s go to the couch” You gently pushed him and hopped off the counter, grabbing the spoons with one hand and the other grabbing his wrist, Hyunjin picked the pan and followed you to the other room.

You picked the remote control on the coffee table and lied on your back on the couch, tapping your parted legs for him to settle in between. Hyunjin smiled, lying down with his back against your chest and body settling between your legs, pulling the fluffy pink blanket over you both.

He smiled again when you hugged him, arms resting over his shoulders, fingers absentmindedly caressing his chest while you watched the opening of Mr Queen. 

“Mhmm, this is delicious” Hyunjin hummed after trying the treat you made. You leaned forward and gave a kiss on the top of his head.

“It's called brigadeiro. This girl who used to live in my building made them for me, and it was love at the first bite” You explained to him, happy he enjoyed it, the treat was perfect for moments like this.

“It's really good” Enjoying it so much, he almost forgot to feed you some brigadeiro too. 

“Jinnie, I want some too” Hyunjin chuckled, he was sure if he turned around right now, he would see a pout on your lips.

Hyunjin got a spoonful and turned around, feeding you. He smiled watching you savoring the treat, and then gave you a peck before lying back.

While caressing him, holding him while watching your favorite drama, you couldn’t help but smile, from doing the same thing cuddling Jiniret to now getting to do it with his dad, you felt your heart full of happiness. It truly felt like a dream, and wouldn’t want anyone to pinch you. 

Hours passed, the notification with a message asking if you wanted to keep watching. You looked down at him, Hyunjin was strangely quiet for a while, you soft giggled and carded your fingers through his fluffy hair.

“Hey, are you awake?” You whispered, not really wanting to wake him up, because it was good to stay like this.

Silence. You kissed the top of his head.

“Jinnie?” 

“Just five more minutes” He purred sleepy, eyes still closed, holding the blanket closer. You giggled and let him nap some more, caressing his hair.

“You can spend the night, if you want to” You whispered softly and he nodded, but didn't move. 

“I gotta go” He sighed after some minutes, and slowly got up, he sat and looked at you, scratching lightly. 

“Really?” You pouted and he caressed your cheek with his thumb.

“Yeah, the boys don't know I am here, and Changbin will get suspicious if I don’t come back home” He shrugged, reluctantly getting up.

“Alright, then” You got up too and walked him to the door. 

“I’ll stay another time, okay?” He said softly, cupping your cheeks and tilting your face to look at him and you nodded.

“And soon you'll get the chance to sleep with me every night” He teased about the tour and you flustered, shaking your head, making him chuckle. 

“Don't act like you aren’t all eager, counting the days…” 

“I'm not!” You tried to sound nonchalant.

“I bet you're the one responsible for booking the rooms, making sure mine's next yours…” Hyunjin had a mischievous smile while teasing you.

He was partially right, you weren’t responsible for the bookings, but you already checked how many doors until his. 

You shook your head and he took your hands in his, intertwining your fingers and pulling you close to him.

“You can't wait to put your hands on me, admit it” He whispered in your ear and then leaned back, smirking at you. 

“Hunf, I'm completely fine” You scoffed.

“Yeah, right…” He placed both your hands on his chest, tapping gently the back of them with his, piercing eyes locked on yours.

“For how long? Half an hour? 15 minutes maybe?” He teased and you stopped your hands that were already automatically running down. 

He chuckled and you smacked him.

“Stop playing me” You whined, pouting. 

“You can't keep your hands to yourself, y/nnie. It’s okay, if I was you I wouldn’t too” He teased, and honestly, he was right. 

Yeah, Hyunjin was right and you were stubborn, that's how you ended up in your little bet, he was convinced you'd lost it in 3 days, a week maximum, but you'd prove him wrong. You had plans but they were ruined, as he sent you a goodnight text and a reminder that you'd be cheating if you avoided him for the next few days.

Jagiya: [sent a picture]

You drooled when you saw the selfie he sent you, of him in his bathroom, wet hair just out of the shower, you could see the droplets running down his chest. 

Your hand was sliding down your shorts, when you saw the three dots: Hyunjin was typing.

Jagiya: remember, hands off yourself too, goodnight baby 😘

Your hand quickly came up and you scoffed. You could imagine his grin when he sent that, and you'd get rid of that really quick.

You got up and stopped in front of the mirror, the lilac short doll was pretty, you fluffied your hair, then pulled the top a little down, showing some cleavage to the camera and snapped a picture.

You: [sent a picture]

You: no touching! goodnight, jagiya 😘 

That night Hyunjin experienced his first of many blue balls.

~ {♡} ~

“Oh, they finally fixed it. Great!” You said stopping near Na-yeon, who was getting a soda from the vending machine.

“Hi, y/n. What's up?” She turned to face you, she was smiling, nevertheless it didn't reach her eyes.

“Good. Is there something wrong?” You asked her and Na-yeon's eyes widened.

“What? No, why?” She tried to brush it off, but you saw the lilac marks on her arm as she sipped her beverage.

“Na-yeon, you're hurt. What happened?” You touched the mark and she hissed, it was recent then.

“Oh this?” Na-yeon turned her arm, looking at them and shrugging as if it was nothing “I slipped on practice, that was all” 

It didn’t look like bruises you'd get from a simple fall, you were about to try to make her tell you the truth, when the can you were holding was suddenly taken off your hand. You looked from your empty hand to the boy a few steps further.

Hyunjin, of course. Na-yeon took the chance to escape you when you shouted at him, excusing herself that she needed to go practice. 

“Na-yeon?” You called, but she just waved and kept walking.

You sighed and turned on your heels, you'd talk to her later. But you didn't see her for the rest of the day or week.

~ {♡} ~

Week 3 of the challenge was almost complete and even you were surprised with yourself. Especially with the amount of time you had been spending together.

Chae-hee had been around too, a little too much for your liking, if you were being honest, and although you weren’t saying much, your expressions and actions were loud enough for Hyunjin to know it was bothering you and he wanted to reassure you everything was fine. 

So that’s how you ended up there that friday night, you both were hanging at his place, like you've been doing lately, but something was different and you could tell from the moment he invited you.

“Cheers to me!” You raised your glass after Hyunjin poured you more soju. 

“To my balls!” He said, clinking his glass with yours and drinking the shot right away.

“Oh my God, don’t say such a thing!” You flustered, chuckling and so did him. 

Hyunjin grabbed the bottle and shook, he stuck his tongue out and poured the last few drops, pouting after as he looked at the coffee table and saw the other bottles were empty too.

“Ugh, I'm so tired” He plopped by your side and stretched his arms up then they fell on his thighs.

You didn't miss it when his hand slid dangerously to his waistband, but something clearly clicked inside his head and he pulled back, resting it on his abs. 

He almost let his intrusive thoughts win. 

Your breath hitched. You'd let yours. 

Placing your hand on his thigh, you started to rub lazy circles on the fabric, Hyunjin slid down on the couch and closed his eyes, a slight smile forming on his lips as he knew what was coming next, his cock twitched in anticipation. 

You leaned forward, lips trailing kisses on his neck and he sighed as your hand started to wander more deliberate now, reaching everywhere but where he needed you the most. He groaned. 

“My baby is tired, uh?” You cooed and he nodded.

“You've been working so hard, let y/nnie take care of you, okay?” And he purred. 

His eyes were still closed when he purred, lying there in his practice clothes, hair disheveled and pretty plump lips so inviting. And you just wanted to pounce on him right there.

You touched his cheek gently, turning his face to you and capturing his lips in a slow kiss, tongue tracing the outline before he gave you entrance, deepening the kiss. Your hand went back to his lower abs, sliding under the hem of his t-shirt and scratching your nails lightly there, earning groans from him, his bulge starting to become evident in his pants.

As you were about to slide your hand there, you stopped. The bet, Hyunjin remembered.

“Keep going” He grabbed your wrist and placed your hand there, his moan made you press your legs together.

“But what about not touching?” You whispered.

“I don’t give a damn about it, I just need you now” His eyes were dark as he bucked his hips against your hand.

And just like that, you were kneeling on the fluffy rug of his living room, fingers hooked on his sweatpants slowly dragging the piece down, revealing his black boxers. His cock strained by the fabric made your mouth water and he smirked. 

You leaned forward, licking the outline and he hissed. You did it one more time before holding the waistband between your teeth, pulling it down, using your fingers to help

He groaned, throwing his head back and there it was, glistening with precum that leaked, long and not too thick, pretty and pink, beautiful… Just like everything about him.

Hyunjin watched intently as you wetted your lips and twitched when you gave his tip a little kiss, your hand wrapped around the base, lazily stroking him a few times before licking up, wrapping your lips around the tip.

“Oh shit” His hands flew to your hair, holding it into a makeshift ponytail as you lowered your head, bobbing your head and taking more of him. 

You looked up at him, his sounds, the way he bucked his hips up, grip tightening in your hair, it was driving you insane. Your free hand played with his balls and your lips on him like you were savoring your favorite lollipop.

“Fuck, y/n” He groaned and pushed your head, the sight of you gagging on his cock made him roll his eyes to the back of his head.

Tears gathered in the corner of your eyes as you choked on him, the tip hitting the back of your throat, you bobbed your head up and down.

Doing your best to ignore your gag reflex until it got too much, you gave gentle taps on his thigh,  he loosed the grip on your hair and you lifted your head resuming in lick and sucking him again.

“Baby, I'm gonna… Oh shit” Hyunjin moaned and you sucked harder, trying to take more of him again.

Eyes locked on him, a silent plea that he was more than happy to oblige, white ropes soon enough sliding down your throat. You let him go with a pop, tongue swirling the tip, licking him clean, eyes intently watching him, with half lidded eyes staring at you, chest rapidly coming up and down. 

“That was so hot, c'mon here. Let me take care of you, too” Hyunjin beckoned with his finger and you climbed on top of him.

He tilted your head and kissed you, tasting himself on your lips as he gently moved you, pushing you to lay on the couch. Sloting between your thighs, he kept kissing you as his hand roamed over your body, until he bunched up your skirt, grinning when he saw the black lace being unveiled.

“Somebody was planning to get lucky today, uh?” He teased you, lowering himself and nibbling your inner thigh, making you whimper. 

Hyunjin made a trail of open mouth kisses on your thighs, nibbling and suckling the flesh, making sure you'd have traces of him tomorrow. Your soft sounds echoed in the room, and a moan a little louder slipped when he traced your middle with his fingers.

“Doll, you're so wet already” He teased, but feeling proud of his effect on you. 

“Jinnie…” You sighed and he chuckled softly.

“Yes?” He kept running his fingers very lightly, wetting the pads and chuckling when you'd buck your hips up, seeking for more contact.

“Oh, I see somebody's getting eager” Hyunjin teased again and pressed his thumb, forcing the fabric against your slick, making you moan.

He stopped teasing you soon, seeing your annoyed glance at him, he lowered himself between your legs and pushed the lace to the side, smirking as he saw your glistening core.

“Don't worry, doll. I won’t tease you…” His breath blowing air on your middle, you squirmed slightly “not today”

Hyunjin licked a strip up, humming as he just tasted his favorite dessert. Your heart skipped a beat as he looked at you and grabbed your wrists, guiding your hands on his hair, he loved it when you'd play with it while he'd eat you out.

Your fingers carded on his hair and he kept licking you up, teasing your entrance with his tongue before slowly tracing patterns all over your pussy, savoring you. 

“My sweet, sweet y/nnie” He hummed, gripping your thighs, fingers digging on the flesh holding you in place. 

He groaned when he teased your clit with his tongue and you slightly pulled his hair, biting your lower lip to hold back your moans. 

“Don't hold back, I wanna hear you” He said and as he wrapped his lips on your clit, sucking on the nub. Your moans echoed through the room.

“Yeah, just like that” He smirked, sucking harder.

He circled your entrance with his fingers, coating them with your juices before slowly pushing his finger in, and then a brief moment later a second slid up too, making you gasp. His fingers stopped for a moment, tongue still playing with your clit before he moved his fingers again, slowly pumping in and out of you.

“Jinnie… oh shit!” Your mind was foggy, the world slowly disappearing before your eyes, leaving just the two of you.

“So good, so fucking good” Your cries became louder as he found that sensitive spot inside you, his tongue swirling and teasing on your clit and you came without warning, shaking and gripping on his hair as you called out his name, clenching around his fingers.

He kept lapping on you until you stopped shaking, licking all your juices off you and giving your nub a final kiss before he placed your panties back in place and sat on his heels. Hyunjin smirked, admiring your disheveled figure in front of him. 

“I won” He chuckled, pulling your skirt down again, straightening the fabric, the sight of the faint lilac mark peeking under the hem made him smile. 

It took you a minute to realize what he was talking about, you crossed your arms over your chest. 

“That's not fair, you said it was okay!” You pouted and then murmured “And you touched too!” 

“Never said I could keep my hands off of you” He said flirting and your heart jumped. 

Hyunjin hovered over you, and you wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him to lay on top of you. You stayed like this for some time, just kissing him, feeling each other’s heartbeats in the silence of the house. 

Until the sound of the door being open snapped you back to reality.

“Hyunjin-a, I'm home. You better not be dressed” Changbin shouted from the door, you heard him leaving his shoes at the threshold and soon enough he appeared in front of the couch.

“Oh, you’re dressed. How disappointing” Changbin faked a pout looking at Hyunjin who laughed while greeting him. 

Changbin's eyes scanned the coffee, the empty soju's bottles catching his attention. He recalled the second pair of shoes at the threshold and then he turned to the right.

“Y/nnie, what a lovely surprise!” He had a cheeky smile that made you fluster as he greeted you when you came out of the bathroom.

~ {♡} ~ 

You smiled looking at the wave emoji shining in your calendar: the Australia concert was coming soon and luckily Joo-wan put you in the group who were going with the boys, touring could be very overwhelming behind the scenes too, as an alternative to make the work easier Joo-wan splitted the staff in teams and each would be responsible for a different portion of the tour. You were over the moon, it would be your first time in the country and it was even better to experience it with Hyunjin.

You were excited to spend the day on the beach, to meet Berry, to meet their aussie friends at the party Hannah was planning on throwing for them. Not to mention the days off they would have after.

Thinking about it made you smile. Quality time with the boy of your dreams in Australia, after all those years of working and not proper vacation? What else could you ask for? 

An email notification popped up on the screen, bursting your daydream bubble and your lips turned upside down as you read the beginning of the message: Sorry to inform, but…

There was a problem with your visa application and due to the amount of pending requests, there would be a delay in analysing and delivering your permission. You fell on your back on the mattress, texting Joo-wan and then Hyunjin, who got as upset as you were.

And just like that, your plans got swiped under by the wave. 

All your attempts to get it fixed in time didn't work, all the company did was ensure you to keep your stuff packed, because it would be ready for the Japan dates. 

In his attempt to let you somehow be ‘part of it', Hyunjin kept sending you photos and vídeos of his days there, showing you the venue, the places they visited to record the SKZ Code episodes and cute videos of Berry of course.

Jagiya: [sent a picture] 

Jagiya: check out this room, it's the fanciest, i threw my Versace robe there so now it'll be mine. 

You zoomed the picture, you've been looking for Jiniret all day, and now you found him.

You: ohh so that’s where that sneaky little ferret was, i've been looking for him everywhere 👀

Jagiya: [sent a picture]

Jagiya: he said he wanted to come on tour with his dad 

Your heart flustered as you looked at the selfie of Hyunjin hugging the plushie, pretending to kiss it. 

You: jiniret’s living his best life 🤧

~ {♡} ~ 

Hyunjin checked his phone, there were no new messages, he settled it back on the couch. It was almost show time and you've been gone since yesterday morning, which was weird because you loved to yap and didn’t even read his messages from today. 

You were up to something, Hyunjin thought. 

A knock on the door caught his attention, everyone was here and their food was delivered already. You were missing all day. 

What if?

He grinned, standing up and running to the door, so that's why you were gone. How sweet, you were planning a surprise for him. 

But Hyunjin's smile faded as soon as he opened the door.

“Chae-hee, what are you doing here?” 

“Hi, Hyun!” She had a smirk on her red lips “We came to support our favorite group!” 

Chae-hee pulled Na-yeon to stand by her side, Ha-ri and Ji-soo, the other girls from her group were behind them. 

“Wow Na-yeon, first in Seoul and now you came to watch me here too?” Minho teased her, appearing behind Hyunjin “You must really like me then” He winked at her and she blushed.

“Don't get into your head, their miles were just about to expire!” Jeongin said cheekly and Minho grabbed the nearest cushion and threw it at him. 

“We leave Korea to have some break from Chae-hee and she manages to appear here too. Is this what that mercury retrograde thing means?” Seungmin murmured, making Chan laugh.

“Er… girls, nice to see you here. Why don't you get inside, we just bought some pizza” Chan politely said when he appeared in the living room, it wasn't like he was pleased to see them there, but now they were and there was not much they could do.

“Oh we would love to” Chae-hee took a step and linked her arm with Hyunjin “Let’s go, Hyun. I’m starving”

~ {♡} ~

Back in Korea, you plopped down on your couch after a much needed shower, sighing, you grabbed your phone, checking the messages Hyunjin sent to you. You couldn’t help but smile at the ones asking where you were.

Heyoon's sister was moving and she recruited you both to help pack, unpack and organize her new apartment. Everytime you'd close your eyes, you saw boxes and boxes falling down in front of you like pieces of Tetris, you texted him. 

It was almost show time, you opened Instagram to see if you could find someone streaming and the first image that appeared was a picture of Sydney Opera House posted by Chae-hee. 

~ {♡} ~

The boys were flawless, as usual, and after the show there was a party waiting for them at the house. In typical Stray Kids style, the vibes were chaotic by the time they arrived from the venue. 

There was people dancing, chatting and making out, the music was blasting, the cups were always full and the boys were hyped, reunited with their friends from there, new friends they just made and even Chaeryeong appeared as a surprise for Changbin. It was fun, until somebody broke a vase and Chan decided to hide all the glasses and delicate decor before Joo-wan would choose to put an end to the party, now it was all good. 

“What are you doing?” Ha-ri's question made Chae-hee jolt. The girl appeared behind her, peeking over her shoulder.

“Oh my God, Ha-ri, don’t walk around scaring people like this” Chae-hee finished pouring the vodka in the drink she was making. 

“Hm, this looks pretty. What's it?” Ha-ri grabbed one of the cups filled with red liquid, she took a sip and almost spat. 

“Chae-hee, what did you put in here?” Her eyes widened.

“Just a little bit of vodka” Chae-hee shrugged feigning innocence and Ha-ri blinked.

“A little bit? It tastes as if you poured the whole bottle in there” 

“Oh Ha-ri, you're too dramatic” She grabbed the cup from her and took a sip, noticing her friend was right.

“See?” Ha-ri chuckled “It's energy with vodka and not vodka with energy” 

“Yeah, you're right. I'll make a new one” Chae-hee half smiled, grabbing another cup. Ha-ri turned around, missing her friend's eye roll.

“Hey, are you alone?” A blonde aussie approached Ha-ri, Chae-hee smirked, right on time.

“I'm with…” Ha-ri was about to point to the brunette, but she shook her head, Ha-ri hand fell to her side. 

Less than a minute later the boy was guiding Ha-ri to the improvised dancefloor. Chae-hee watched the scene unfold with a smile, before returning to her drinks making. 

Chae-hee looked around, near the aussie line making out with some girls, it was Na-yeon dancing with Minho. 

“Lucky bitch” Chae-hee murmured to herself, turning to the other side, then she spotted him.

Hyunjin was going to sit on the couch with Jeongin, they talked a little and then the maknae stood up, leaving him alone. Perfect.

~ Part 2 ~

[genderlessghoul]

Hey so remember when I wrote a small fic about trans Phantom using tape to bind for the first time and it went like shit?

Anyway, I wrote a tape redemption arc and it's under the cut! It's just around 600 words-ish.

“Come in!”

Dew calls out after hearing a shy knock on his door. He doesn't need to look up to know who's on the other side, the faint scent of lavender and woodsmoke betrays Phantom before he even walks through the door. The quintessence ghoul walks in sheepishly and closes the door behind him, something nervous about the way he carries himself that immediately catches Dew's attention.

“What is it?” the fire ghoul asks with a cocked eyebrow as he sets down his book (something about mermaids that Rain suggested to him) and sits up in bed. Phantom holds up a roll of kinesiology tape and a pair of scissors, his tail wrapped around his leg in worried anticipation. He doesn't even need to say a word before Dew's on his feet, taking the roll from him and leading him deeper into the room. It's been months since Phantom's first attempt at binding with tape and it didn't exactly go well. He knows the younger ghoul still has some scars on his back from the experience. Dew leads him near his desk so he can work while standing up. He takes off the other's shirt.

“You took a shower?”

“Yeah.”

“You didn't put on any kind of body butter?”

“No.”

“Good.”

As he starts cutting strips of the tape, Dew notices how the quintessence ghoul opted for black, this time. He can't help but think that, at least, it won't stick out like a sore thumb, this time. Phantom seems to read his mind and lets out a dry chuckle.

“It fits my colour scheme better.”

“It does. You sure you wanna do this? We don't have to.”

“I know… But I figured I'd go back to it sooner or later. And if I don't do this now, I feel like I'm gonna chicken out forever.”

“Fair enough. Just don't go ripping it out raw again, okay?”

Phantom laughs nervously at that.

“Been there, done that. Never again.”

“Good boy.”

The quintessence ghoul melts a little at the praise and Dew gets to work. He instructs the other to lift his arms so he can lay the first pieces of tape.

Phantom keeps his arms up while the fire ghoul works on him. He finds a lot of comfort in his warm fingers and the ease with which Dew applies the strips. He wishes now more than ever that he'd gone to him the first time, instead of experimenting all by himself in his cold bathroom. At least, he'd learned what not to do. His eyes find Dew's mirror and he watches him work, trying to commit the techniques to memory, although he could get used to the pampering.

“How'd you figure out how to do it right?”

“Lotsa practice.”

The fire ghoul finishes his work and pats Phantom's sides a couple times.

“Lots of asking around, too.”

To which the younger ghoul rolls his eyes.

“I get it, I should come to you more…”

“It doesn't have to be me, baby bat, I just don't want you to mess up your body.”

They stay silent for a moment while the quintessence ghoul puts his shirt back on. He stretches his arms out, relishing in how comfortable the tape is this time around. He even finds himself smiling at his own reflection.

“You don't have to take care of me so much… I'm not complaining at all, I appreciate it more than I can tell you, I just… Thank you.”

“Don't mention it, Ant. I um… I remember what it was like to be in your place. And I wish I had someone back then to show me a thing or two, to tell me it was gonna be okay.”

Phantom doesn't quite know how to react to Dew's words. As long as he'd know him, the fire ghoul hasn't talked much about his own experience, only ever spoken with his actions. The moment is short lived, however, when Dew turns back to him and claps his hands together.

“Alright, loser, down for a game of Mario Kart?”

[beat-the-morning]

🖤🎄Under the tree || Hozier x Reader🎄🖤

READ ON TUMBLR UNDER CUT || READ ON AO3

Rating: +18 || smut

Tags: 🎄Christmas Themed Fic🎄, face-fucking, cunnilingus, oral sex (both receiving), come swallowing, light dom/sub (fork found in kitchen), light bondage

Summary: You have a very special gift for Andrew this Christmas (the gift is you.)

Word count: 1.9k

A/N: Yes, I know it’s not Christmas anymore. No, I don’t care about that, time isn’t real anyway. Shoutout to my editor (oomf) for editing while I get ready to post the fic. If there are any remaining typos fight them Not me. I’m not the one editing one handed, they are.

A/N 2: Everyone cheer that it only took me 20 days to write another fic instead of the usual month. Another one for that white boy of the year poll coming soon(ish). Hope you all had a very nice Christmas🎄❤️

💙FULL FIC UNDER CUT💙

It was Christmas Eve, Andrew was on his way back home from a Christmas charity busk in Dublin that you decided to stay home for so you could prepare a special surprise for him. You had told him as much when he asked you to go for the first time, which unnerved him slightly. You had instructed him to have dinner while he was out, so you could focus on the surprise when he got back.

He was 45 minutes away, and everything was ready, except you, that is. Your surprise was divided in smaller parts that you’d show him in the morning, but you needed to get ready for tonight’s, you were fresh out of the shower and smelled like cinnamon and sugar cookies, you walked out of the bathroom with nothing on and grabbed a few strips of red silk fabric and gift wrapping paper as you made your way downstairs to the Christmas tree. Then, carefully, wrapped yourself up as a gift for Andrew. The paper enveloped your ass and front, going up around your abdomen and chest, creating almost a dress shape, your legs tied together by the ankles and thighs while you kneeled in front of the tree. You tied a nice red silk bow on your hair and another one on your mouth, making it so you wouldn’t be able to speak, finally, you tied your hands together with the rest of the red fabric.

You waited patiently for around five minutes before Andrew finally got back, the lights in the house were off, the only light being candles, both real and battery-powered, that you had put around the house to create a path from the front door to the living room and from there to the bedroom. Andrew smiled as he went in, his mind going wild with ideas of what you could’ve been preparing for him.

“I’m back!” He called out as he took off his shoes and coat in the entryway, the house was warm and he could hear the crackling in the fireplace, so he took off his sweater, too, remaining in just his pants and a button-up shirt (with an undershirt under it). He made his way to the living room, following the candles, his eyes scanned the room looking for you when he entered, his eyes and smile widening when he saw you wrapped like a present under the tree. You tried your best not to move when he spotted you, though you could already feel an all too familiar dampness between your legs.

He walked over to you, his stride confident and smug, he squatted next to you, his hand caressing from your knees, up to the bow on your thighs with what could only be described as a lustful fire in his eyes. His hand moved softly up your paper dress and to your face, he held your chin firmly between his fingers, making you look at him. “Was this your surprise, love?” He teased, smirking.

You hummed and tried to nod to say yes, your eyes wide and submissive as you looked at him. Andrew smiled.

“Let me get this off you, sweetness.” He chuckled, taking off the bow on your mouth and giving you a quick tender kiss. “There we go, how are you feeling, baby?”

“Good.” You answered.

“I’m glad,” he kissed you again before standing up, his hand still holding your chin. “So, did you have a plan for after I got here or..?” He wandered.

“No, no plan, you can do whatever you want, I’m your present after all. Happy Christmas!” You smiled innocently.

His eyes darkened with lust. “Good,” he chuckled. “What’s your safeword for when you can’t speak, darling?”

You snapped your fingers twice. He smiled, his hand moving to undo his belt and pants. “I love getting new toys for Christmas.” He murmured, a shiver ran down your spine and straight into your core. He pulled out his cock without even taking off his pants, it was hard and leaking already. His other hand moved to your cheek, caressing it lovingly. “Don’t move your head, I’ll do everything, just sit and enjoy my cock like the little slut you are, okay?” He commanded.

“Oka-“ you went to speak but he cut you off before you could get a word out.

“Shh shh shh.” He shushed you, a finger over your lips. “Toys don’t talk. Now, nod if you’re okay with this.”

You nodded, mind fuzzy with arousal. He gently guided your mouth to open, slowly guiding his cock into it. He started thrusting gently, both his hands holding your head at this point, his cock teasing the back of your throat while you held your thumbs in your fists to get rid of the gag reflex as best as you could, though it was never quite enough thanks to his size.

He sped up, moaning softly as he fucked your mouth. His hands still caressed your face and hair every so often, you hummed in response, sending vibrations all through his shaft. “You fucking love this, don’t you? Being my toy, letting me use you, just- mmph!” A moan escaped him. “Just being mine.” He growled as he said that last word, gripping your head tighter and quickening his pace even more. He bared his teeth, sucking in a breath through them while scrunching up his face.

Andrew’s hand moved to the back of your head, taking your hair in his fist and using it to move your head closer to himself, he was moaning loudly, his face still scrunched up. Drool was running down your chin and dropping onto your breasts, your eyes rolled to the back of your head, the wrapping paper dampening because of your wetness. You blinked a couple times, your eyes focusing on Andrew, he was glowing in the soft light of the candles and the Christmas tree, his hair wild and unruly, he was looking up, mouth agape while he moaned, you could see his neck, red and blushing, you could only imagine how the rest of him had to be. His hands on your head were still freezing from when he was outside, the cold serving as an anchor keeping you in reality.

You kept humming as he fucked your mouth, whimpering every time he bottommed out and hit the back of your throat. You felt him twitch in your mouth, the taste of his precum already in your mouth, his moans became shorter and more breathy, he was close. His grip on your head tightened once more, he pushed his cock all the way in, then quickly pulled almost all the way out, you sucked him, knowing he was about to come. He smirked.

“Greedy little thing, aren’t you?” He murmured, his voice deep and thick with lust, his Irish accent somehow more noticeable than before. He continued to fuck your throat. “Wanna swallow, baby? Hm? We can’t make a mess yet, can we? I haven’t even finished playing with my toy.”

You moved your head ever so slightly, taking his dick as deep as you could, he smiled, humping your face a couple times before he came down your throat with a loud moan. Your nose was buried in his pubic bone as he emptied himself, his trimmed hairs brushing against your face before he finally pulled out, a string of saliva and cum still joining your lips with his shaft. He breathed, petting your hair lovingly with one hand while putting himself back in his pants with the other.

“You’re fuckin’ amazing, did you know that?” He said softly, a loving smile on his face. He kneeled down next to you, looking at the bows on your arms and legs that restrained your movements, then at the wrapping paper that covered your body. “I think I should finish opening my present, don’t you?” He teased, chuckling softly.

He ripped open the paper, throwing it away the second it wasn’t touching you anymore. His hands, still cold, moved to your chest, fondling and squeezing it, your nipples hardened almost immediately, letting him pinch and pull at them. You moaned and whimpered, your back arching towards him. His hands wandered lower on your body, untying the bows on your thighs and ankles, you raised your hands for him to untie as well, but instead he moved them to be behind his neck so that you would be holding onto him.

With that, he picked you up and carried you to the bedroom, making you squeal at the sudden movement. “Andy!” You giggled as he walked. “Put me down!”

“Absolutely not,” he smiled, “I haven’t finished with you yet.”

He laid you down on the bed, taking your arms by the bow that tied them together, moving them away from his head and towards the headboard, making another knot to tie them to it. You pulled at your restraints, and sure enough, they didn’t budge, making Andrew smile.

“You look so pretty when you’re tied up, did you know that?” He whispered, leaning in to kiss your jaw and neck.

You moaned softly at the kisses, your body moving instinctively towards his touch. He went lower, kissing down from your collarbone, along your chest and abdomen, and finishing by kissing your mound. Your legs parted for him, he settled between them, putting your thighs over his shoulder and holding them tight.

“I won’t go overboard tonight, I promise,” he smiled again, placing a quick kiss on your thigh. You nodded, knowing what was to come.

He dove into you like it was his first meal in weeks, lapping at your juices with fervour, he moaned at your taste, moving his head side to side while pushing forward to get closer to you, his nose rubbed against your clit as he moved his mouth lower, his tongue darting out to thrust inside your core. You pulled at your restraints again, soft whines from frustration and pleasure mixing together. Your hips moved involuntarily, increasing the friction between your clit and his nose, your climax quickly building up thanks to your existing arousal. Andrew’s hand moved around your thigh and towards your clit, playing with it while his tongue went in and out of you again and again. His beard scratched your thighs, you could feel his smile on your core and hear it in the moans loud enough to not be drowned and muffled in your body.

Your legs started to twitch slightly, the all familiar coil in your stomach threatening to snap. Your breathing became irregular, making you whimper softly, the sounds only encouraging him further, his fingers on your clit moving faster and faster until you finally reached your peak. Your hips buckled into his face as you moaned loudly, he drank every drop of your essence as your legs shook ever so slightly, your moans quickly turning into whines.

He pulled away slowly, kissing your inner thighs before finally untying your wrists. He massaged them softly, kissing both of them before speaking softly.

“All good, love?” He asked softly.

“Yeah,” you nodded.

He pulled you into a hug, laying down on the bed and letting you rest on his chest while he played with your hair.

“That was a wonderful gift, by the way.” He whispered into your hair.

“It’s just the first of many,” you smiled, your voice slightly hoarse from moaning. “Not all of them are like this one, though.”

He chuckled, his other hand squeezing you lovingly. “I didn’t expect them to be, don’t worry.” He kissed your hair. “Happy Christmas, my love.”

“Happy Christmas, darling.”

[chaos-vixen]

Wait- did we cross-over again?

Idea rant time:

So Danny Phantom (Fenton depending on how much you know about him) has been traveling after (Mm let me pick a card) “Reveal Gone Wrong™️”! Let sprinkle that with a lil “Can’t Return/ Nothing to Return to” and we have a decent base for a fic.

Now comes my Idea

So here he is, in the R&D labs of Stark Tower after fully completing the plot with one Peter Parker (Spiderman to those who know him about him) and one Shuri, Crown Princess of Wakanda. And these three have already done their bit, payed their dues to the plot gods, when for some reason:

A) Danny’s lil side project malfunctions and opens a portal

B) Villain of the week opens a portal

C) Clockwork decides he needs a new plot point for his favorite soap opera

D) Danny is summoned and PANIC

E) Something else

And where does our hero(es) end up? Gotham, DCU! Which results in in two options!

I) Just Danny, goes with Alley street urchin route (most plausible ending being adoption, might stay)

II) Danny + Peter, dispute the intelligence between them, they go pizza delivery boy route (might be adopted, will be building tech, prob should work on getting home, Mr. Stark will worry. High chance of underground fighting)

III) Team Nirvana (Danny, Peter, & Shuri [GO READ The Ghost of Heroes!!!] And Shuri tells the boys that the pizza delivery plan is low-key dumb (honestly she might go with it but doubt it) and instead they’d get a proper set-up going and find the quickest way to make money is:

a) Undergound fights (Danny, Peter! Why is that your first though?!)

b) Sell tech (Profit↗️)

c) Get adopted(?? P: How will that make money? S: Have you seen yourself and Danny? Perfect adoption bait.)

Goodness this is turning out to be a build-your-own-adventure! But anyways, the plot depends on the options chosen,

(ex: B, II, a - Objective is cash, need to find an in to the underground for fight info and where they can register to participate)

(ex2: D, I- prob just needs to quickly deal with issue (1 Cult summoned [effete and find JLD to go home], 2 John Constantine summoned [likely needs help defeating x threat], and find a way home)

you could pretty much do anything with it (I know I said a lot of different ideas here, I’ve never seen a cross over like this, and I can see why [so many characters!!] but tbh it’d be fun [also Tim Drake + Team Nirvana + Everlasting Trio is a shit show waiting to happen)

I’m not sure who to share this with either (if you play with these ideas plz tag me– I want to see it!!!!!) but I might tag some ppl I’ve seen around the fandoms.

Honestly I thought my rant was going to be about Barista Danny

apparently not.

[velvetwyrme]

DOG DRAGON?! // The Nebular Theory: Chapter 16

A sketchy comic for The Nebular Theory (@theundertalenebulartheory) which has been dominating my thoughts for the last while!!!

Please please PLEASE go read this fic. It's absolutely amazing and delves into some REALLY COOL exploration of timeline shenanigans and has a hella neat way of visualising that!!

I could sit and spout praises about this fic for hours but honestly just go read it, it's SO good.

[viperwhispered]

Rest

Guess what? I've got more Jamil x reader for y'all. You can also find this on ao3. No warnings, just 866 words of kinda fluffy(?) caretaking stuff with gender-neutral reader.

At this point, you know Jamil’s schedule almost as well as he does. So, when you have the chance, you head to Scarabia’s kitchen, hoping to spend some time with Jamil while he and the other students prepare dinner. 

However, when you enter, it takes you but a moment to notice Jamil’s uncharacteristic fumbling and the tired look in his eyes. The way Jamil’s chopping the vegetables has you worried about him cutting himself with that knife he’s usually so adept with, and it seems it’s only force of habit that’s keeping him on track.

You frown, and when your eyes meet Jamil’s, you can already see him put his guard up.

So he knows what state he is in, huh? And still, here he is.

It seems Jamil is reading your thoughts, all of him telling you drop it before any words are even said.

At least he still lets you lean in and give a quick kiss to his cheek in greeting.

“Hello love. Do you still have a lot on your agenda for today?” you ask, keeping your tone low for at least some semblance of privacy in the busy kitchen.

“Nothing I can’t handle,” is the response you get.

Of course.

It takes a little more pestering before Jamil actually answers your question. Your lips purse. That list is far too long to your liking.

You take a moment to think, juggling your own plans and to-do list against the urgency of the things Jamil mentioned.

“Will Kalim be eating from that?” you ask, pointing at the food Jamil is preparing.

“Yes.”

“Alright, I won’t be touching that one, then. I’ve gotta do a few things but I’ll be back when you’re done here.”

“Don’t,” Jamil says with a glare, clearly aware of what you’re thinking.

Yet even his disapproving look doesn’t have the usual weight behind it.

“Yes. I will,” you say firmly, even as your heart curls inwards with another bout of concern.

Really, when did he get so tired?

And how did you not notice it earlier?

You leave the kitchen before Jamil can protest further, hurrying through the dorm corridors to find Kalim.

Soon you have an enthusiastic – and concerned – supporter for your plans. You have Kalim point out a few reliable Scarabia students to help with a few of the most urgent matters Jamil mentioned – cleaning up the common areas, delivering some paperwork to Crowley, preparing some dorm-wide notices – while you see to Kalim getting his school supplies in order for the following day. You even recruit a couple of third years to help Kalim with his homework.

You’ll see to the rest tomorrow – after all, you do also have a boyfriend to look after.

Your conversation over dinner can hardly be called anything else than an argument – despite Kalim’s best attempts at acting as a moderating force between you two. It is very tempting to ask Kalim to tell Jamil to take the rest of the day off – it’s not like Jamil would be willing to openly disobey a direct order. Still, you really don’t need to remind Jamil of his position on top of everything else that you’re already doing more or less against his wishes.

Eventually, however, Jamil’s had a square meal, the most urgent things on his to-do list are being taken care of, and you’ve managed to drag him to his bed.

“I really wish you wouldn’t push yourself so hard,” you murmur, your arms wrapped tightly around Jamil. You’re telling yourself you really do just want to cuddle, to offer some respite to Jamil. Still, there might also be a part of you worried that if you were to let go, he’d just jump up and get back to working himself to the bone.

Yet, for all his protestations, just the fact that you’ve gotten Jamil to lay down with you speaks volumes of his current exhaustion.

“I can’t just leave my duties, albi. You know this.”

“Making yourself too indispensable, is what you’re doing,” you protest.

Oh, you know it’s not so simple. Not with his background, not with all the expectations and assumptions.

But sometimes you really wish it would be.

Jamil merely scoffs in response to your words.

Still, it is undeniable that he is slowly beginning to relax in your arms, slowly bringing his head closer to yours. His eyes are starting to flutter, too.

“I will still need to help Kalim with his homework, at the very least.”

You wonder who he is trying to convince more, you or himself.

“Amin and Khalil are helping him. They’re basically top of their classes, aren’t they? I’m sure they’ve got it.”

Still, Jamil frowns.

You sigh. He really is not letting go, is he?

“Do you want me to go supervise?” you ask.

And leave you, unsaid yet hanging there right after your words.

“Don’t,” Jamil eventually says, the word barely more than a breath.

It seems he has accepted his fate.

You softly caress Jamil’s hair, listening to his softening breathing.

And when you wake up, wholly unaware of having been lulled to sleep in the first place, it’s to the lightest of touches from Jamil’s fingers.

Tagging @diodellet @twstgo @crystallizsch @jamilvapologist @jamilsimpno69 as per request If you'd like to be tagged for any future works, let me know!

[marimbles]

It seems to be pretty well established that most fanfic authors don’t mind when readers leave comments on old fics and in fact welcome it. But what about authors replying to old comments?

Do readers care in general whether an author replies? Is it expected and seen as rude if they don’t? Is it nice when they do but not expected? Is there a time limit to the welcomeness of replies? Like is it nice if they respond within a few weeks but if it’s been months or years it feels awkward because you don’t remember the fic anymore? I’m curious!

[floweryotter]

Due to personal reasons, I have designated my own Three Big BKDK fics:

"In The Dark" by Jane_Harl0w

"The Time Between Our Lives" by Fitzrovia

"Broke Boys" by SamIsNotLegend

Hope that helps

[willow-lark]

lark's recently-read byler fic recs

thought people could use some uplifting 💕🫶 please remember to hype up your favorite fics and art and other creative work & remember there's always something new to enjoy!! browse the tag or ao3 page & give someone's work a some love!! xoxo

If Time Runs Out by @rainypebble07 (T, ongoing, 14k+) - BYLER PIRATE AU!!! 🏴‍☠️ i literally just discovered this one today and i'm actually obsessed. i have never seen any other pirate aus (🤨) n i just wanna say u guys are missing out on the concept and on this fic bc i'm so invested. i'm so excited to see where this fic goes. royal mike x pirate mike is SO GOOD.

how to get your crush to believe you love him: a guide by mike wheeler by @newlesbianprideflag (T, 3/4, 11k+) - mike goes across the country to visit will at college in an attempt to confess his feelings to him. will, who has a boyfriend already and would like to think himself very over mike, thank you, is not impressed. this one deconstructs a lot of popular/fanon tropes and is really great so far!!

california show your teeth by @fireflywitch (T, 8/19, 63k+) - ok this one mayyybe only has background byler but i'm reccing it anyway bc it's one of my FAVORITE regularly updating fics maybe EVER. in early 1985, chief hopper and his average, normal family move from lenora hills, california to hawkins, indiana--the latter of which has had multiple tragedies over the past few years, to which the new chief's family may or may not be linked. LIKE WHATTTT 👀 go read it RN. masterpiece

All Good Dogs by @hellfiremike (T, 1/1, 3.8k) - this one actually made me cry. featuring: an EXCELLENT character study of will byers, a heartfelt examination of canon and what comes after, and chester the dog getting the attention he deserves and never got in canon 😭

kiss me (try to fix it) by birthofv3nus (T, 1/1, 4k) - will has kissed every member of the party except for mike, who is, understandably, taking this news *SO* well and is not jealous about it at *ALL.* but maybe his situation is not quite as dire as he believes it to be....ugh this one was such a fun read, and you know i loveee party dynamics!!

drank my poison all alone by silverluminoqity (T, 1/1, 4k) - mike is going through it, and, though vecna seems to have been vanquished, maybe he's not so completely gone as everyone thinks.... this is an excellent exploration of both mike's guilt as well as his evolution as a character, and how he views himself. super in-character and super good!!

high tide came and brought you in (and i could go on and on) by silverluminoqity (T, 1/1, 8k) - MOTEL FIC MOTEL FIC MOTEL FIC 🥳 or, mike and will have yet another heart to heart, and some things are revealed. this fic is just so completely heartfelt and UGH i was MELTING the ENTIRE TIME, holy SHIT. probably in my top 3 motel fics EVER tbh.

Chasing Heartlines by @cherryisgone (T, 1/2, 6k+) - i was so excited to read the first chapter of the sequel to maybe one of the best byler fantasy aus ever!! knight mike pining after prince will is something that can actually be so personal to me. i love a good mike-won't-shut-up-about-will fic. the attention to detail in this fic is actually INSANE.

[nathaniacolver]

hey if any caitvi shippers also ship korrasami and need pit fighter realness after that bomb of a clip

you should totally read "roll with the punches" by GreatestChange on ao3 (IF you haven't yet already). just. guys. i SWEAR the arcane writers stole the idea, but like they didn't, but like. they did. the venn diagram is a circle.